


(And All I Need Is To Be Struck by) Your Electric Love

by DevasenasWife



Series: Sasirekha Parinayam AU [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, sasirekha parinayam
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Qui-Gon Jinn, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anakin Skywalker Loves Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin being Anakin, Fake Names, Forced Marriage, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Long Suffering Obi-Wan Kenobi, M/M, Obi-Wan Kenobi Loves Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi Will Give It To Him, Obi-Wan Likes Tea, Qui-Gon Bashing, Slow Burn, like seriously, road trip? Sort of, sasirekha parinayam au, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 26,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25843309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DevasenasWife/pseuds/DevasenasWife
Summary: What do you do if your parents are forcing you into a marriage that you didn’t know of until the day you were supposed to get married?Anakin runs.He doesn’t care that the groom is supposed to be rich, or that he lives in America. All he knows is that he’s not some object, some slave to be handed over on a whim.Obi-Wan Kenobi thinks it’s love at first sight. He saw the man a few days ago in a photo album of his friends marriage, and immediately wanted to meet him. Obi-Wan even flew back to India to talk to his parents and see if the man, Anakin, was interested in marriage. And better yet, Anakin’s parents assured him that Anakin wanted to marry him! He’s just waiting around on the side of a street because he has a flat tire, hoping he won’t be late for the ceremony tonight when he sees a man in full marriage wear. A runaway groom, he thinks. Then he looks closer.Anakin?Aka a Sasirekha Parinayam AU
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Quinlan Vos, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn & Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious/Dooku | Darth Tyranus
Series: Sasirekha Parinayam AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919281
Comments: 105
Kudos: 210





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y’all! This is my first Obikin fanfic! It’s based on the Telugu movie Sasirekha Parinayam, meaning it’s set in India and the characters are Indian, and I’ve placed various other Star Wars characters as family members/friends. A translation of some words is available in the notes at the end.
> 
> Edit: I accidentally posted the unedited version of the chapter, here’s the real one

The clock shows five in the morning when Anakin is woken up unceremoniously, forced to take a shower, and is nearly shoved into the family van. It is a short journey to the village’s temple, one that Anakin spends lightly dozing. If his uncle and aunt aren’t going to tell him where they’re going, he might as well catch up on some sleep. He’s pretty sure he’s missing something important today, but Anakin can’t think of anything but the sweet comfort of sleep. 

When they get to the temple, Anakin’s uncle takes his flip-flops off and hurriedly cracks a coconut at the entrance. After an insistent poke by his aunt, Anakin rolls down the car window and folds his hands in prayer. Muttering short prayers under his breath as he puts  _ kumkum _ on his forehead, Anakin’s uncle hobbles back to the van, wincing at the heat of the sand underneath his bare feet. As he gets settled into his seat and starts driving away, Anakin asks, 

“Are you finally going to tell me why we’re here at such an ungodly hour?”

His uncle just shrugs. 

“I don’t really know. Your dad called me at twelve in the morning and ordered you to be at his house at six. When I asked why, he insulted my lineage and told me I didn’t need to know.” 

Anakin rolls his eyes. Everyone in the village is familiar with Qui-Gon Jinn and his eccentric ways. Anakin doesn’t know why his mother puts up with Qui-Gon. Oh right, it’s because he’s an abusive asshole. And then Anakin remembers why this day was important. 

“What about my midterm exams?” It’s Anakin’s last year of college, and today is his first exam.  _ Shit, shit, shit. _ He forgot-he has to study- he doesn’t have his books-

Anakin’s thoughts are cut off by the van turning onto his dad’s street. As he was going to college, Anakin chose to live with his aunt and uncle, whose house was much closer to the university than his parent’s mansion in a secluded part of the city. However, he’s sure that the street hadn’t looked like  _ this _ the last time he was here. 

There are flowers,  _ rangoli _ decorations, and colorful designs painted onto the street, and Anakin wonders whose marriage it is now.  _ It must be Kasthuri! She had her engagement last month, right? _ He thinks. 

As Anakin gets down from the car, he realizes that it is  _ his  _ house with most of the decorations, and this only serves to confuse him more. He notices his father ordering the workers around, making sure they put up the trees and  _ toranalu _ well. Next to his father, in a white Hawaiian shirt, is his sister-in-law, Ahsoka Tano, who bounds over to him joyfully. Anakin opens his mouth to greet him, but before he can say anything, Ahsoka cries out, 

“YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!” 

_ What? _

“I can’t believe it! My Ani is getting married!” At this point, Qui-Gon and the rest of Anakin’s family join Ahsoka and usher Anakin into the house. Numb with shock, Anakin can’t do anything but obey. 

He’s greeted at the door by his mother Tahl, and her sisters. Her face is radiant with happiness at the idea of Anakin’s marriage, and she talks quickly as she rotates a pumpkin from his head to his knees, clockwise, as is tradition. 

“They’re saying the groom is a nice person! He’s from America! Do you remember, three months ago, when we went to that marriage in Rajamundry? I heard she stays in America now, and her husband and the groom are friends! Your future spouse saw your photo from their marriage photoshoot, and he wants to marry you! You are so lucky!” 

Tahl keeps on rambling, oblivious to the dark cloud that has taken residence over Anakin’s face. He’s never met an American, and he’s heard they were all arrogant assholes with money. And plus, his ‘future husband’ wants to marry Anakin just because he saw his photo? How cheap. 

Anakin’s grandmother, Shmi, interrupts his mother. 

“Let him breathe! He needs rest, otherwise he’ll sleep in the marriage hall tonight!” she says with a wink. It takes a second for Anakin to process the implications of that sentence. 

“My marriage… is  _ TONIGHT _ ?” he gasps, horrified. All of the ladies nod affirmations. 

“You’ll sleep here for three nights, and at his parents’ place for three nights, and on the seventh day he’ll take you to America!” Shmi tells him, as she and the other ladies coo at him and pinch his cheeks. 

Anakin can’t stay here in this room right now. It feels like there’s a crushing weight on his chest, and he needs air. With a desperate  _ Come _ , he drags his mother by the arm up the grand steps of the main hall to his room. 

Along the way, he overhears two ladies talking about how beautiful and charming he looks, and at the same time, how foreign marriages could end in horrible torture and abuse for the Indian spouse that didn’t pay enough dowry. Which just makes Anakin want to curl up in a ball and cry more. 

When he gets to his room, Anakin whirls on his mother. 

“Why am I getting married now?”

“If not now, then when?” Tahl challenges. “You are almost 22. Did you know I got married at 14?”

“Amazing! Great job!” Anakin is practically oozing sarcasm. “But what about my studies? Do you not want me to get a degree?”

“That’s no matter. If your husband accepts, you can continue studying after marriage!”  _ If his husband accepted?  _ What the hell? Anakin was not a slave, thank you very much, and would very much like to graduate college and  _ not _ get married to some jerk living on the other side of the world.

At this point, Anakin wanted to tear his hair out in frustration. “You brought me here at six in the morning, without telling me beforehand that I was going to  _ get married _ !” At this, Tahl started to look nervous. 

“Don’t let your father hear you speak like this, dear-”

But Anakin was on a roll. “What is wrong with you! Should I not know about the groom? Should I not know basic details about him, like, oh, like his  _ name _ for starters?” 

“You shouldn’t go against your father’s wishes-”

“Or what he does for a living, his personality?”

Tahl fished a DVD out of her sari’s folds. “All of his information is on this disc, he recorded it and asked me to show it to you! Do you know how beautiful your future house in America looks? A  _ rajakumara _ himself has asked to marry you, don’t say no, my dear!”

Anakin takes the DVD. “Is that  _ rajakumara _ in this DVD?” Tahl nods, not seeing the manic look in Anakin’s eyes. “I see.” And with that, Anakin throws the DVD on the ground and stomps on it with all his might, cursing that asshole of a man the entire time. At last he looks up. “He saw me on a CD, and so I have to see him now on a DVD? Should our entire marriage be conducted online?” At this, Tahl again looks around nervously for Anakin’s father. 

Anakin leans closer to his mother. “I don’t want this marriage.”

“Are you in love with anyone at your university?” She looks genuinely horrified at this idea, and Anakin just looks at her with disgust. 

“What, no!”

“Oh good. But you have to accept this marriage! You remember the story I told you about when you were little? The two star-crossed lovers? They had to kill each other because one got corrupted by dark magic?” 

“Yes, I remember, you know, because I was  _ named after _ the insane one. What the hell does that story have to do with this?”

“Your name is Anakin, and his name is Obi-Wan! Just like in the tale! How can it be more perfect than that?”   
  
“You’re basing our marriage on the fact that our names are famous?” Anakin would be more surprised, but today’s been a day full of shocking events. He shakes his head and clears his voice. 

“I don’t want this marriage. I, don’t, want, this marriage.” Anakin’s voice is gradually rising with each word. “I DON’T WANT THIS MARRIAGE!” he bellows. The next second, he registers the sound of someone getting slapped and his cheek stinging with pain, and he cowers behind Tahl. 

“You don’t want to get married?” the furious baritone of Qui-Gon Jinn assaults his ears. “You’ve been nothing but a burden on our family!” He strikes Anakin again and Anakin’s aunt and uncle run towards him. Qui-Gon turns to them, enraged. “It’s your fault he’s like this, you’ve spoiled him! He’s going against MY WORD, and says he doesn’t want to get married! What the hell am I going to tell the groom’s family? I promised them he was okay with the marriage, and arranged the dowry already!” He lunges for Anakin again and Tahl drags him away. “If you don’t get married tonight I will kill you myself and put your corpse on the marriage seat!” 

As Qui-Gon is pulled away, out of the room, Anakin desperately tries to think about how to escape the marriage, but in his heart he knows there’s no way out of this. Qui-Gon Jinn always gets what he wants. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kumkum- saffron
> 
> Rangoli - Indian chalk/quartz powder art
> 
> Toranalu - strings of mango leaves
> 
> Rajakumara- prince, compliment meaning a rich husband


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is up, and translations are at the end!
> 
> Thank you for the comments and kudos, they mean so much to me!

For the rest of the morning, Anakin is dragged into pre-marriage rituals by Tahl and his aunts. There’s the haldi ceremony, where Anakin gets bathed with  _ pasupu _ and is given  _ harathi _ . Every woman gets to pour a jug of warm water on his head to wash the  _ pasupu _ off. Later, there’s the dress up ceremony, where Anakin is placed into a red  _ kurta _ , and decked out head to toe in expensive gold jewelry befitting the son of the head of the village. His hair is elaborately braided, his hands are covered in heavy gold bangles, his eyes are lined with  _ katuka _ , and his lips are painted with rouge. Tahl places a saffron bindi on his forehead. 

At the end, Anakin gets to look into a floor-length mirror to see the full ensemble. He vaguely registers that he should be overjoyed that it is his wedding, or feel beautiful in the outfit any man would be jealous over, but since this morning, Anakin has only felt numb inside. He can tell that his aunts are disappointed over his lack of reaction, but they ignore it and let him be. 

As Anakin walks around during one of his short breaks, he lingers to take a last look at what has been his home. He can’t believe that in a few days, he will have to live in a country he has never seen for the rest of his life, with a man he has never seen before. His throat closes up and he turns away, willing himself not to cry. 

In the afternoon, he is seated on a plush sofa, for people of the village to take pictures and shower him in sprinkles of  _ akshantulu _ , representing their blessings. Anakin only folds his hands, as is customary, and bows his head so he can’t see the faces of the people giving him - no, selling him away. He can feel faint stirrings of anger.

Two hours later, the anger is a roaring wave. Anakin refuses to eat the lunch that his mother has given him. When Tahl asks what is wrong, Anakin doesn’t even want to give her the satisfaction of hearing him talk, so he only glares at her. She gave up all rights to his love once she agreed to a marriage on his behalf that he didn’t know about. Who was he kidding, she gave that up when Qui-Gon first raised a hand against six-year-old Anakin and she stood by, watching.

Lastly, it comes time for immediate family to shower him in  _ akshantalu _ . From beneath his lashes, he can see the usual waterworks, and he rolls his eyes. But wait- what is that? In all his life, Anakin has never seen the great Qui-Gon Jinn show any sign of weakness, let alone cry. But his father’s eyes are wet, and his touch lingers for a moment too long on Anakin’s bowed head. For a second, Anakin forgets the years of abuse. He remembers his father teaching him how to ride a bicycle for the first time. He remembers his father helping him with homework, despite the fact that Qui-Gon failed tenth grade and never went back. Anakin just wants to stay home, pretend this was all a terrible nightmare and hug his parents tightly. 

But in the next second, a shout comes from outside the house. 

“The groom’s family is here!” Mace Windu, Qui-Gon’s brother-in-law, strides quickly into the hall, pointing to the entrance. 

Qui-Gon and Tahl hurry to greet their guests. Anakin almost doesn’t want to bother, but reminds himself that these people are soon to be part of his family, and peers around from his seat to the door. Most of the extended family is outside and already at the guesthouse provided to them, but the family patriarchs and a man dressed in a white  _ kurta _ step into the house. No, Anakin amends, it’s almost as if they strut into the house like they own it. 

The couple introduce themselves as the groom’s -Obi-Wan’s- fathers. The tall, almost regal man calls himself Yan Dooku, and the other man with a politician’s fake smile says his name is Sheev Palpatine. Both of them barely spare a glance at Anakin, and instead survey the house. The man, who Anakin assumes is his future husband, is busy talking on his phone. He’s not bad to look at, but his attitude is a huge turn off. Probably reassuring his secret boyfriend in America that he’ll dump the Indian man once he gets his promised dowry money. Anakin looks away in disgust.

As soon as his future fathers-in-law start talking, Anakin lip curls in disgust. The couple perpetuate the stereotypes of a rich, arrogant, NRI family looking down upon a village family in India so well Anakin is almost relieved that he doesn’t have to try to get along with them. Clearly, they’re a waste of time. They can charm his family, but Anakin is not fooled. They are clearly only here for the dowry money. 

Later, when Anakin’s back in his room with his mother, Ahsoka bursts in, flushed with anger.  _ Good, that makes two of us _ , Anakin distantly thinks. 

“Where’s the dowry money?” She demands.

“Why?” Tahl asks.

“Sheev’s been insulting our family and calling us poor for the last hour, and just said that the marriage won’t happen if he doesn’t get the dowry money right now! And of course the groom is a money-hunting pig, he doesn’t care!” At this, Anakin sees a single tear fall down Ahsoka’s cheek. She continues, softer. “You didn’t hear how badly he hurt Uncle Qui-Gon. Honestly… I don’t think this marriage is the best idea.” Ahsoka takes the money Tahl wordlessly hands her, and leaves. 

Anakin whirls on his mother immediately. 

“Did you hear that? Even Ahsoka doesn’t agree with the marriage. They’re clearly all assholes!” And then a horrible thought enters Anakin’s mind. “Do you… do you want to get rid of me? Am I really a burden?”

Tahl gapes at him.

“No! Ani, never. You were never a burden…” Tahl sadly explains. And then, seemingly coming to a conclusion, she sighs, “I have a plan.”

  
  
  


Outside in the street, Qui-Gon Jinn fumes. Sheev and Yan had treated him like absolute shit while counting the money. And they wanted him to give his son up to them? 

Mace hurries to calm him before he does anything rash. 

“Our Ani doesn’t have to live with him, though, Qui-Gon. He’ll live with the groom. He seems like a really nice guy. And we’ll have to deal with him maybe two, three times for the rest of our lives: for any other marriages in our family, and if Ani and his husband adopt, for the cradle and naming ceremony.” Qui-Gon nods, accepting that, and is almost calm when Ahsoka comes running to him, out of breath and in a panic. 

“What’s wrong, dear?” Qui-Gon asks.  _ What does that slimy bastard Sheev want now? _ He inwardly seethes. 

Ahsoka is clearly hesitant to say it. “Ani… our Ani…”

“Spit it out!”

“Ani has run away!” Ahsoka bursts out. 

For a moment, the world freezes. Everyone looks at Qui-Gon, bracing themselves for his reaction. 

“Uncle?” Ahsoka tries hesitantly. 

Qui-Gon addresses the men around him, but more specifically, Mace. In all his life, Mace has never let him down. 

“FIND HIM!” He roars. “BRING HIM BACK! By  _ any means possible _ .” 

Unfortunately, by this time, Sheev is outside and has heard what has happened. 

“Did he run away?” He asks innocently. “Or did he elope with someone?” Sheev turns to Yan. “Look! I told you that brat was a waste of time! I only agreed because  _ your son _ was so adamant on marrying  _ him _ ! And we didn’t even get a lot of money…” Yan rolls his eyes and begins to pull Sheev away towards their car, hoping they can leave this mess here and forget about his son’s chosen one. 

Qui-Gon and his relatives watch Sheev and Yan leave in their car, whose extended family, at this point, is also boarding the rental bus that brought them here. 

Already the workers are starting to take down the decorations and gossip about the family situation. All of this hurts too much for Qui-Gon’s pride. The head of the village turns and storms into the house. He knows exactly who helped Anakin. And she is going to pay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pasupu- turmeric 
> 
> Harathi - candle in a plate 
> 
> Kurta - traditional Indian tunic
> 
> Katuka- eyeliner 
> 
> Akshantulu - turmeric-coated rice, used as blessings


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 chapters in as many days! I don’t know if this will be the posting rate for the rest of the chapters but it seems like I’m on a roll! 
> 
> As always translations are at the bottom and comments are greatly appreciated!

Anakin weaves through traffic in a blind panic. He can’t even stop to apologize to the cars and motorcycles that he has almost ran into. He needs to get out of the city, quick. Tahl had helped him escape through his bedroom window with only a tearful kiss. Too bad she didn’t give him the keys to Qui-Gon’s motorcycle, or car, or even some money, or a phone. All of his stuff is still back home, as he was pressed for time and it’s not like his wedding robes came with pockets. Anakin figures if he really needs to, he can pawn the gold jewelry he’s covered in, each piece worth several  _ lakhs _ . 

Which brings him to another big problem. Anakin is most certainly catching the eyes of some unfavorable people in his outfit and jewelry, and really doesn’t want to get mugged or kidnapped. So he’s just trying to move quickly enough to get to a bank, and then a shopping mall so he doesn’t look like he stepped off the  _ Sabyasachi _ runway. 

He’s lost in thought, thinking about how he’s going to do anything at the bank without his banking cards, when he bumps into someone leaning on their motorcycle. 

For a second, Anakin is frozen. This stranger is  _ gorgeous _ . He could stare into those kind blue eyes forever… And then Anakin remembers where he is and why the stranger is looking at him and his outfit so peculiarly. 

“Sorry, so sorry!” Anakin rambles, and resumes looking for a safe place to stay and gather his wits. He doesn’t see the stranger lift his vibrating phone up to his ear, and say, dazedly, 

“He’s run away? Oh, no. What a terrible thing to happen.” The stranger continues watching Anakin fumble around on the street. “Listen, Dad, I can’t hear you. The signal is breaking up. I have to cut the call.” The faint shouts of a man can be heard over the speaker phone, which the stranger ignores. “Hello… hello…” The man jabs at the disconnect button in order to fully focus on the runaway groom. 

Right at that moment, a voice breaks through the sound of the horns and chatter on the streets, belonging to Plo Koon, Ahsoka’s oldest cousin. “He’s here! I found Ani!”

Anakin’s head whips around in terror and sees his brother-in-law waving at him, as if he would go back to his dad just like that. He looks back at the stranger on the bike, watching them both bemusedly. 

_ He looks too nice to be a serial rapist _ , Anakin thinks. 

_ That Ted Bundy was a very attractive man _ , Anakin’s consciousness replies.

_ I don’t have a choice _ , he retorts, and runs over to the stranger. 

“I’m so sorry for this, please help me!” Anakin swings his legs over the front of the man’s motorcycle, and rotates the gas handle until he can’t hear Plo or the others with him anymore. It’s a couple of moments after that he realizes that the man behind him is still sputtering in confusion as to what has just happened. 

“Please drive slowly! There’s a lot of traffic!” The stranger pleads.

Anakin ignores him. He’s always loved going at least ten kilometers above the speed limit, and now that he’s getting chased, he thinks he can push it to fifteen. 

“This bike…”

“I’m so sorry, sir. I’m in an emergency.”

“I- well- okay, but you see, the bike isn’t mine.”

“What?” Anakin demands. Oh no, his consciousness was right. The man is a thief. “Do you steal bikes for a living?”

“What?” The man honestly looks offended. “No I don’t-”

“I thought you looked too handsome to be a thief.”

“I-” Is he blushing? Anakin can’t tell from the rearview mirrors. “I mean, I was only leaning on the bike, and it just happened to still have the key inside… Did you elope?”

“It’s not like that!”

“Well you either eloped or you’re late for filming a PSA about how to get mugged,” which draws a chuckle out from Anakin.

The stranger’s humor reminds him of his older friend Padme, who he met at college. He decides he likes this man, thief or not.

After about fifteen minutes, they reach a bus station. The stranger gasps and says, “Your father’s men are here!”

To Anakin’s horror, his father’s men are searching the seats on all of the buses. Maybe Anakin should have questioned why this stranger knew his father’s men, but all his brain could think of at that moment was that he couldn’t go back to his home. 

So Anakin drives to the nearest temple he can think of. At least people won’t look at him weird for wearing traditional Indian clothes at a temple. He gets down and turns to face the stranger, and takes a deep breath. He can only hope his plan works. 

“Thank you so much. I owe you one.” And before his courage fails him, Anakin steps forward and brushes a chaste kiss against the man’s cheek. His right hand rests in the man’s hair, and his left hand sneaks into his pocket, quickly bringing out the wallet and concealing it in his hand. Anakin turns and runs towards the temple, not seeing the stranger gaping at him behind his back with a finger pressed to the cheek that was kissed. Anakin really hopes he can see the man again, and apologize to him. He needed money, and while he may have had lakhs worth of gold, he needed hard cash quickly to not draw suspicion to himself. Maybe he could give more than a kiss on the cheek, the man really was quite attractive. Once he’s climbed the steps and is in the temple, he realizes that the stranger never gave Anakin his name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lakh- about 100,000 rupees 
> 
> Sabyasachi - Popular expensive marriage wear brand


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took me a lot longer, because somehow the dialogue wasn’t working for me. It still isn’t, but I can recognize that this is the best it’ll get. Here’s chapter 4 of Anakin being a disaster! 
> 
> Also, your girl turned 17 yesterday!!

Anakin has spent several hours by himself and is already feeling tired, hungry, lost, lonely, and scared, not particularly in any order. He had stolen a backpack by flirting with a shopkeeper, which he put his jewelry in. He had tried to get himself an inconspicuous ride to Hyderabad, where he knew Padme moved a year ago with her husband, but the driver was acting really creepy and asking him for his ‘prices’ that he was sure was not referring to transportation costs. And finally, a group of weed smokers on the side of the road started to catcall him, resulting in a woman coming to his rescue by claiming she was a police officer in front of the group. 

That’s how he’s currently sitting on one of the outdoor tables of a small restaurant with the woman who saved him. She had introduced herself as Assaj, and tried to buy him something to drink and eat, but Shmi’s voice was playing on a loop in Anakin’s head, telling him to never consume anything a stranger buys you. Assaj wasn’t a bad conversation partner, however. He felt slightly guilty for lying to her about his family and circumstances of running away, but she was nice enough not to pry. 

Honestly, Anakin thought he deserved an Oscar for pretending to be a model who had been swindled by his employer and left on the streets. 

“My boss promised that she would get me on the cover of Vogue India!” Anakin wails. “I guess… my parents were right. I should have stayed home and became an engineer, but instead I thought I was special!” 

Assaj is looking at him with tears in her own eyes, clearly moved by Anakin’s theatrics. “Oh, poor thing. That bitch never deserved you!” 

Anakin gives her a grateful smile, making sure to wobble his lips _just so_ to make it look like he’s fighting back a sob. 

Suddenly there’s a commotion coming from the other side of the store. 

“HE STOLE MY WALLET!” Anakin hears in a familiar accent. _Shit. Shit. SHIT. How did he find me?_ He thinks, and runs behind a large banyan tree a couple of feet from the restaurant. 

From his location, he can see the handsome man that drove him around - er, that _Anakin_ had driven around, march up to Assaj. 

“Where is he? Where did he go?” The man demands. 

“Who?”

“The man that was talking to you right here until now!”

Assaj looks around, confused. “I don’t know, he was here until now. And who are you?”

The man turns to give her a deadpan stare. “His husband.”

Assaj rears back in indignance. “You left him alone for his photoshoot without a phone or any other way to contact you, you idiot? What kind of husband does that? He was on the streets when I found him, do you hear me?”

Honestly, Anakin could kiss Asajj, except the man was well within his rights to be mad at Anakin, not that she knew that.

The stranger only gives her another distracted glance and strides out of the restaurant, still looking around for the wallet thief. Relieved, Anakin turns his head only to see Kit Fisto, another of his father’s relatives, on the street in his black Jeep, talking to who he can only assume is Qui-Gon. 

“Yes, I’ll bring him home. Yes, I promise you he’s here somewhere. He can’t have gotten out of the state. Yes I- No, I’m pretty sure that’s abuse. Yes, I’ll ask discreetly. Yes… Hang on, someone’s coming.”

And- Anakin’s stomach curdles- Kit stops the man whose wallet he had stolen to quickly show him Anakin’s college ID before putting it back in his pocket.

The man raises an eyebrow, “He’s handsome enough but I’m not that type of person. And I’m broke right now because _someone_ stole my wallet.”

Kit flinches. “No, no, no! He’s like my son, and he’s missing! Have you seen him?”

“Of course I have!” the stranger enthusiastically replies. Desperately, Anakin tries to think of where he can run off to now. 

“Where?” 

“On the photo in your pocket.” Kit just stares, while Anakin sighs in relief. Kit takes a deep breath, quelling his irritation away and says,

“Look, if you see him, tell me.”

The stranger just gives him a thumbs up and walks away, rolling his eyes. Kit goes to stop another person to ask them if they had seen his grand-nephew.

Anakin thanks the gods that he wasn’t ratted out. He doesn’t hesitate to sprint away to the other side of the street. 

It’s about a half hour of Anakin walking aimlessly, before he realizes the blue-eyed stranger is waiting for him on the pedestrian pathway of a bridge, feigning ignorance of Anakin’s stuttering footsteps and cry of alarm. The bastard, he even looks a little smug. _Who’s the thief now?_

As Anakin approaches, accepting his fate and the loss of the little cash he had, without even lifting his gaze from looking out over the bridge, the man starts talking.

“The only son of Qui-Gon Jinn...”

Anakin freezes. _How did he know that? He had never mentioned his own name or family. Come to think of it, back at the bus station, the stranger knew his father’s men by sight...._ Oh, it was just Anakin’s luck to pick someone who knew his father as his escape plan.

The man mimes looking at a small card in his hand and continues talking, “Anakin Cliegg Jinn-Skywalker, ‘Ani’ in parenthesis, ‘Robotics Engineering, BS’.”

He had seen Anakin’s college ID, which explained how he knew the degree and nickname, but to know ‘Cliegg’, which came from Shmi, who wanted to honor her dead husband? 

“The groom that ran away from the marriage which is scheduled to happen in about four hours. Whose father is sending men to search all over the place for him, and-” Here he pulls out a larger photo of Anakin from his shirt pocket, “has included a very large reward for his return.”

_Oh._ All that information was probably on the flyer, the copies of which are probably now plastered over God-knows how many buildings around the city. Anakin would respect the efficiency of his father’s men, if it weren’t him they were trying to find. 

Anakin looks back to the man’s smirking face and feels rage bubble up in him. “Are you trying to blackmail me? I’m a pretty good fighter. Try anything and I will break your bones.”

The stranger holds his hands up in mock fear. “Oh no, whatever shall I do?” He takes out his cell phone, where Anakin sees his father’s number is already dialed, and is about to press the call button when Anakin hurriedly asks, “What do you want?”

“I want my wallet back,” the man hisses. Anakin tosses the wallet towards him quickly. 

“Alright, now close your phone.”

The man does so, stroking his beard. He’s much calmer now that there’s no danger of Anakin making off with his money again. “I also want to know, who did you elope with? Did they dump you?”

Anakin is not about to tell him anything, so he makes up another story. Faking tears, he says, “I didn’t elope, I ran away.” At least that’s true. “My family may look rich, but we are actually very poor.” The man blinks in disbelief, but Anakin plows on. “Because of a financial crisis, my father’s forcing me to marry a man old enough to be my grandpa and who has already been in two marriages already.”

“GRANDPA?” The man sounds… offended, which makes no sense, so Anakin assumes he’s buying into the story and is simply indignant on Anakin’s behalf. 

“His first wife hung herself. His second husband eloped with someone. And looking at that pattern, I don’t want to be his third spouse.” Anakin hears a choking sound and looks up to see the man with a hand over his mouth in disbelief. He looks at Anakin for a few moments in a way that Anakin is sure means that he can see right through his charade, but all he says is, 

“All this talk is making me hungry. I know a good coffee place over there. Have you eaten today?” 

Anakin’s stomach rumbles, the traitor. He hadn’t had anything but breakfast early in the morning, since he had been so stubbornly bent on not eating lunch to guilt his mother into possibly calling off the marriage. 

The man raises an eyebrow. “I thought so. Come, let’s talk over coffee and _idlis_.” 

Anakin hears Shmi’s voice again, warning him not to take anything from strangers, but after all of this, it seems like they aren’t strangers anymore. 

“Alright. What’s your name?” 

The man hesitates, before answering. “Ben.” 

Anakin tastes the name on his tongue. It’s so unassuming, for someone so handsome. 

“Well then, Ben, lead the way.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idly/Idli - South Indian breakfast food
> 
> Also, is the rating okay for this fic? I know I’m using a lot of swear words


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A 🍪 to anyone who gets the OT reference! This chapters a bit shorter but it sets up everything in the next chapter!

“You really were about to be married off to be someone’s third husband?” Ben asks, continuing the conversation they’ve had for the past twenty minutes while walking to the  _ dhaba _ .

God, can’t he shut up? “Yes,” Anakin replies shortly. 

“And you  _ really _ haven’t eloped with anyone? No lovers, or anything like that?”

“No!”

Ben now looks more contemplative. “So you’ve never seen the man you were supposed to marry? Or talked to him? Did they not tell you anything?”

“Well,” Anakin fidgets. He had to come up with this lie on the spot, so it’s still very flimsy. “My aunts told me it was his third marriage, and all the stuff about what happened to his spouses. That’s all I heard, and that’s all I needed to know. Oh, and his name’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Ben’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second at the last part, but his face is a placid mask again before Anakin can comment on it. _ Does he know Kenobi too? Oh shit oh shit oh shit. _ The last thing Anakin wants is for Ben to blab about how Kenobi’s future husband saw him as an abusive, twice-married grandpa. 

“So… if he was out on the streets, would you recognize him?”

“Yeah, I mean, I saw him at my house.”  _ Shit. You just said you never saw his face, you idiot!  _ Anakin’s lie is falling apart faster than his college grades. 

Ben blinks at him. “At your house?”

“Yeah. He, uh, had dreads. Dark skin, not bad looking. Was wearing all-white.” Anakin looks over to one of the servers and pleads at him with his eyes to  _ come over, quick! _

Ben looks confused for a moment, and then realization washes over his face. His mouth forms a perfect  _ O _ . “Him!” he exclaims.

“You know Obi-Wan Kenobi?” Anakin asks, wincing internally.

“Well of course I know him. He’s m-” His eyes widen. “M-my friend! Obi!” he chuckles uneasily. “We graduated college together!”

“Of course you did,” Anakin mutters to himself. Great. Ben knew his parents  _ and _ his to-be husband. Absolutely fucking fantastic. He’s startled out of his thoughts by the slam of two water cups on the table.

“What can I get for you today, sirs?” The server Anakin had signalled is standing over the two of them. 

“What do you have?” Ben asks. 

“Idly, spicy idly, sambar idly, dosa, masala dosa, rava dosa-” Anakin looks incredulously at the server. The man’s saying this all in one breath, and doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon.

“Vada, masala vada, dahi vada, poori, chapathi, paratha, bajji, chilly bajji, bonda, coffee, special coffee, tea, special tea, milk, and-” He takes a large gulp of air. “Water.”

Ben breaks out of his daze first. “Bring us a dosa.”

Anakin’s mouth opens before he can tell his brain to  _ shut up _ . “Someone told me that the idlis were good in this  _ dhaba _ .”

Ben stares at him, then turns to the server and tells him to bring two plates of idlis.

A couple minutes of awkward silence later, Ben and Anakin get their idlis. Anakin doesn’t touch his food at first, while Ben digs in. 

“You were right. The idlis at this  _ dhaba _ are really good.” Ben says after two bites. That’s all Anakin needs. He switches their plates and starts to wolf down the provided three idlis.

Ben just raises an eyebrow and scoffs. “What, do I look like a thief that will drug your food to steal your jewelry or something? As revenge for the wallet incident, perhaps?”

Anakin shrugs. “My grandma told me to never trust strangers.” He hears Ben mutter something under his breath about ‘wonderful families’ but he ignores it. The idlis are really good, especially after not eating anything for several hours now. 

Ben’s phone suddenly rings. He glances at the caller ID and tells Anakin that he will be back in ten minutes. Finishing his plate, he leaves the table to talk in privacy. Anakin just nods, still focused on his own idlis.

When he comes back, Anakin is gone. A handful of rupee bills are gone in his wallet, but this time there’s a note written on a napkin: 

Sorry! :( Can’t buy casual clothes with a three lakh earring set! I will pay you back when I get to Hyderabad!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Obi-Wan both at the beginning of this chapter: 
> 
> I can’t lie for my life oh shit he knows he knows 😳😰 
> 
> Dhaba - roadside restaurant


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 is up! Thanks for the comments and kudos!

Qui-Gon paces in his room. The last few days have been a whirlwind, what with the sudden marriage, Ani’s disappearance, and the loss of his reputation. The last one is the hardest to deal with. He hears the whispers following him around town, alternating between saying that Ani was spoiled too much by his parents and that’s why he was being so ungrateful by running away, and that Ani did the right thing by escaping an abusive home. 

Abusive? Qui-Gon?

Who provided the boy with food, shelter, and clothes on his back! Who spent his hard-earned money on raising him? Qui-Gon was a damn good parent, just look at his boy! All grown up now. The thought makes him sneer. Grown up enough to run away, but not grown up to understand the repercussions of his actions on his family! Honestly, what was so bad about Obi-Wan? Qui-Gon had seen the DVD that the man sent. He had a great job, lived in America, and above all, clearly liked Ani a lot. So what was his problem? And honestly, if Ani had problems with his father, that was more incentive to live in America, away from his _ abusive and controlling  _ father, was it not?

Qui-Gon could admit, sometimes he got carried away while disciplining the boy. Like the time he had only meant to twist the kid’s arm at thirteen, and ended up breaking it. Or like the time he abandoned the kid in Nellore for a couple of days the year later, because he was threatening to run away. Yoda, his grandfather, bless his departed soul, had informed him the former was considered physical abuse, and the latter was considered child neglect. Qui-Gon only thought that he’d scare the boy into staying with him after leaving him alone for a couple of days, but apparently that was bad for a child’s mental health. He scoffed. Back in his day, there was none of this ‘abuse’ rubbish. You got whipped into shape, literally, if need be. That was the only way to create a productive member of society. Just look at Ani! His college was filling his mind with ideas of independence or something like that and now he’s run away. For how long was he planning to do this? He’d have to come home, someday. If not Obi-Wan then he’d have to marry someone else, but Qui-Gon was sure that Obi-Wan was the best Ani was going to get. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. The caller ID said  _ Kit Fisto _ . Qui-Gon quickly picked it up. 

“We found him! Ani’s here with me!” Kit says. “He was playing with ducks on the side of a lake. They were so cute…” Qui-Gon rolls his eyes. Kit is hopeless near any sort of aquatic animals. But the mention of Ani… That makes his blood boil. 

“Kill him right there!” Qui-Gon doesn’t mean it, but he’s just so angry!

“How can you kill your own son? Besides, how many times have we tried to run away from your father? It’s the same.” Kit tries to calm Qui-Gon down. 

“It’s not the same! There is a difference between playing hooky at age nine and getting the shit beaten out of you later, and running away from your actual marriage at twenty three!” 

Kit sighs into the phone. “He’s twenty two, not twenty three, Qui.”

“I don’t care! Bring him back!”

“Alright. We’re heading home, we’ll be there in a couple of hours.” Kit has just locked his phone screen and tightened his grip on Anakin’s shoulder when a man strides up to them. 

“Oh, you cunning man!” Ben sneers at Anakin, whose eyes are wide and is mouthing a  _ sorry _ . Ben’s hair is covered with twigs, his clothes are muddy, and is breathing like he just ran a mile. Anakin doesn’t even want to ask how he managed to find him,  _ again _ . Does the man have a GPS in his brain or something? “How are you doing today? I’m doing  _ wonderful _ ! For the second fucking time, give me back my money!”

Anakin winces. Said money is now in the hands of a cashier at  _ Kalanikethan _ . Ben’s eyes move over his plain black t-shirt, leather jacket, and jeans, and seems to come to the realization that his money has been used up. 

“Hey!-” As Ben moves toward him, Kit and his men block Ben’s way. 

“Let me settle this. I’ll get you the money.” Kit tries to placate Ben. 

“Who the fuck are you? No, don’t answer that. Do you know what he did? He stole my money, twice!”

“Come over here, let’s talk.” Kit guides Ben over to the side of his van. 

Anakin sees his chance. Honestly, he doesn’t know if he would rather go back home or feel Ben’s (admittedly, deserved) wrath, so he does what he seems to have mastered the art of in the past few days and runs away. 

“I am related to Sheev Palpatine! One call and you’ll all be in jail for the next ten years!” Ben’s bluffing, his dad would never care about him enough to make said call. Does his dad even know where he is right now? Ben shakes off that line of thinking, accidentally looking towards where Anakin was last seen.  _ Oh.  _ He turns to face Kit, who’s still trying to ‘negotiate’ with him. 

“ _ Your _ Ani,” Ben says sarcastically, “has escaped. Again.” 

Kit’s face is priceless. 

Ben doesn’t wait for Kit to call Qui-Gon and get yelled at for losing Anakin, he just sprints towards the direction he saw Anakin running away. 

A few minutes and a few near-death experiences with cows on the street later, he’s caught up and grabs Anakin’s arm to stop him. Anakin wrestles in his hold, but Ben doesn’t let up. 

“Did you use all of my money to buy clothes?” Ben asks, wincing as an elbow hits him in the gut. 

“Yes! Let go of me! I won’t run!” Anakin shouts. 

“Promise you won’t start fighting if I let you go?” Those elbows really are sharp, and Ben has no intention of feeling them again. Anakin jerkily nods, and Ben lets him go. Immediately Anakin scrambles to put some distance between them. 

Anakin’s thinking of how he can get out of this situation, or maybe he really has to own up to his thievery, when he spots a familiar face. 

“Asajj!” he screams. Did he and Ben really just end up right back at the first restaurant? 

Asajj’s face lights up and she runs towards them. Anakin pulls her in front of him. 

“Officer!” Anakin continues the charade that Asajj had used to drive off the catcallers earlier. “Officer, he’s trying to assault me. He grabbed me by the arm!”

Ben rears back, indignant. “He stole my money! He used it to buy a new outfit!”

Asajj looks confused. “Is he not your husband? That’s what he said…”

“Him?” Anakin spits out. “No way!”

“Give me your bag! You said you’d pay me back, I’ll do you a favor and pawn the gold right now!” Ben grabs Anakin’s backpack. Asajj steps between them when Anakin lunges to get it back.

“There’s jewelry in your bag?” She asks Anakin. He is distracted by a phone that Asajj has behind her back. Who is she dialing? Hopefully it’s the actual police. He snaps back to reality.   
  


“Yeah! Worth many lakhs! I didn’t borrow  _ that much _ -” Ben mutters  _ stole, not borrowed _ under his breath- “from him, he doesn’t need to pawn my gold! 

Asajj face twitches. “How many lakhs?” Her phone starts ringing and she holds it up to her ear. Ben starts to look suspicious, but Anakin ignores it. Asajj had saved him from the catcallers and had tried to buy him food! She was nice!

“I’m not really sure but in total, maybe fifty-seven lakhs?” 

“Fifty-seven.” Asajj says hurriedly into the phone. A second later, a male voice says, “I’m here.”

“Wha-” Anakin starts to ask what’s going on when Asajj reaches into her bag. 

He doesn’t see the can of pepper spray that Asajj brings out, quick as lightning. All he registers is his face  _ burning _ and his throat  _ gagging _ and that he suddenly doesn’t have a backpack anymore. He tries to open his eyes but  _ everything is blurry and he’s screaming and so is Ben and there’s a motorcycle and Asajj gets on it- so that’s who she was calling- and they’re gone but the pain doesn’t go away _

The splash of water on his face helps, but only for a few seconds. It’s another three seconds before he feels the water again, and he can open his left eye. Anakin now sees that Ben is pouring the water from his water bottle over them, alternating between Anakin and himself every few seconds. It’s not enough to stop the pain, but Anakin appreciates the gesture. Honestly, he wouldn’t have blamed Ben if he used all the water for himself, and to have someone care for him like this feels… nice. Maybe Ben’s not so bad after all. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally gonna be split up into two chapters but I guess I decided to put out an extra long chapter today.
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!

Ben and Anakin sit together on a stone bench outside the small clinic they went into to get their faces checked out. The doctor assured them the pepper spray didn’t do too much damage and sent them on their way after having them dunk their faces in a soap mixture. 

Anakin is feeling more glum than he has in the past two days. 

“I thought you were a thief,” he tells Ben. “And I thought she was a school teacher. Guess I’m wrong about everything. Maybe I really should have stayed home.”

Ben nods. “That’s why we have to be extra careful around strangers. Your grandmother was right.”

Anakin is not sure what sets him off this time. Maybe it’s the holier-than-thou attitude that Ben has used for the entire time Anakin has known him. Maybe he was still a bit freaked out over losing his entire source of money. Maybe it’s that he wanted Ben to disagree with him, to tell Anakin that running away was a good idea and that some people were just bad people. Maybe it’s because Ben caring for him had been really hot. Anakin’s vision goes red. 

“DON’T TALK ABOUT BEING CAREFUL!” He roars at Ben. “You laughed at me when I thought you were trying to poison me in the _dhaba_! My jewels were safe when they were with me. Asajj got them when YOU took the bag!” 

Maybe it’s childish, but he can’t help but throw his arms up as he says, “I don’t have anything to do with this!” Anakin jabs a finger at Ben, who’s leaning back as far away from Anakin as possible. “YOU are going to get MY gold back.” He’s looking at Anakin in disbelief, which Anakin doesn’t understand. Honestly, he’s been kind of a dick to the man since they met, he doesn’t know why he’s surprised that Anakin has a short temper at this point. 

“Get up! Go find my jewels!” Ben nods, still open-mouthed and gaping at Anakin. He walks dazedly backwards. 

“Where are you going?” Anakin demands. 

“T-To the police station, I’m going to file a complaint.” Anakin can’t argue with that plan, so he follows Ben. The closer they get to the station, Ben seems less terrified and more amused. Anakin is disappointed. Scared Ben was quiet, at least. He’s now back to his usual chattering self. 

“Do you always yell at people like that?” He asks, the corners of his mouth quirking up in an effort to not laugh. 

“No.” Anakin grits out, hoping that Ben will drop it. His loss of control earlier had been embarrassing. 

“YOU-” Ben exaggerates his motions in an imitation of Anakin. He points a finger at Anakin’s chest with a comical pout on his face, “are going to get MY-” here he jabs at himself, “gold back, OR ELSE!” Ben puts his hands on his hips and leans forward into Anakin’s space. The American accent makes everything sound more ridiculous, and Anakin can’t help but chuckle a little. 

“Sorry about that. I was just kind of freaking out over, well, everything. I promise I’m not as much of a nightmare normally.” 

Ben raises an eyebrow. “As much as?” 

Anakin laughs, but it quickly turns sad. “I mean, there’s a reason I don’t have many friends. Most people think I’m too much to handle. And they’re right, my emotions are all over the place.”

Ben stares into the distance as they walk. “I don’t think having a lot of emotions is a bad thing. It sounds like they’re just not willing to put in the effort to get to know you, so why would you want anyone like that to be your friend?”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m kind of just desperate. I hadn’t been able to get out of the village and away from my father until college, and I was homeschooled. On top of that, I was practically village royalty, so no other kids wanted to talk to me. I’ve grown up lonely, and I wanted that to change when I went to the university.”

Ben looks at him now, taking in the forlorn expression on Anakin’s face. “You said you don’t have many friends. So do you have at least one?”

Anakin smiles. “I have Padme. That’s actually who I’m going to live with in Hyderabad. We met when I was a freshman in college and she was a senior. Even just in that one year, we bonded in a way that we’d never felt with other people. At first I thought it was romantic, and we had a long-distance relationship for about a year, but then I realized I’m gay. We broke up amiably, and we’ve stayed best friends till now. I know she lives in Hyderabad now with her husband and children. She sends me pictures of her twins, Luke and Leia. They’re so adorable…” Anakin trails off, flushing. He loves the twins and would gladly talk about them for hours on end, but it’s probably not the best topic of conversation right now. Why would Ben want to hear about somebody else’s children, anyway? 

“They sound lovely. It also sounds like you’re very fond of them.” Ben says gently. “I would love to hear more.” Anakin brightens up. They spend the walk to the station talking about Luke and Leia Amidala. 

  
  


When they get to the police station, they are greeted by a pair of muddy boots on the complaints desk. When the man the boots belong to sees Ben and Anakin, he slowly slouches into position on his chair and takes out a formal complaint form and a pen. The name on his tag says ‘Watto’. “Name, incident, date,” is all he says. 

Anakin stops himself from rolling his eyes. “My bag of jewelry was stolen about thirty minutes ago by a woman who escaped on a bike. She said her name was Asajj.” Anakin talks about how he was wearing the gold when he ran away, and that he really needed it to start a new life. 

The officer just takes a long drag of his cigarette. 

“I mean,” he addresses Anakin. “What were you thinking was going to happen? Honestly, with a bag full of jewelry, you were asking to get robbed.” The officer rolls his eyes. “And that’s what you get for running away from your family. Some children-” his eyes flick over to the framed photograph of a teenaged girl on his desk- “are just ungrateful brats.”

Anakin’s blood boils, and next to him he feels Ben tense in anger. Watto just keeps on going. “I can’t do anything, they’re probably stolen by now.” 

Ben and Anakin both start protesting at the same time, and one of the prisoners getting led out of his cell says, “That officer couldn’t find the stolen diamonds of Goddess Kanakadurga’s temple. What makes you think he’s gonna find your gold?”

“Are you going to do _anything_?” Anakin sneers.

“What do you _want_ me to do?” The officer asks, irritably. 

Before Anakin can do something illegal to the officer, Ben pulls out his phone. “You don’t need to do anything, sir. I’ve done all the work for you.” He brandishes his phone in front of him like a weapon. “I’ve been secretly recording everything you’ve said. You can hear our conversation on MAA TV tonight; I bet they’ll make a special segment called Corrupt Cops or something.” 

Watto stumbles over in his haste to get up. “I’m so sorry, sir, I’ll take your complaint seriously, I promise.” He starts writing things down again. “Just please don’t give that audio to the media!” he cries out, terrified. 

  
Ben smirks at Anakin over Watto’s head. Anakin… should not find that smirk as attractive as he does, and he barely manages to smile back before he has to look away. _Fuck… Now is now the time to develop a crush, you idiot!_ He mentally chides himself, but he knows it’s a hopeless case. Ben was smart, sarcastic, kind, and put up with Anakin’s explosive personality. Honestly, if it was Ben who showed up at his house to see him two days ago, Anakin would have said yes and married him in a heartbeat.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot happens! Also I love Hondo Ohnaka so much.

When they have officially filed a complaint, Anakin and Ben walk out of the police station together, Anakin laughing giddily. “The look on his face when you told him about the recording, ah, that was amazing! You were bluffing, weren’t you?”

Ben nods, smiling, but there’s something off about the smile. 

“What’s wrong?” Anakin asks. 

“I don’t think he’ll be able to get back your jewelry.” Ben replies, avoiding the other man’s gaze. “He really is incompetent.”

Anakin starts to panic, again. “My jewels, oh no, they’re worth so much-” 

Ben is about to tell him not to worry when they hear the prisoner they spoke to earlier. 

“Yo! Come over here!” He gestures at them with his handcuffed wrists. There’s an officer next to him, getting chai from the small stall he and the prisoner were at. Ben and Anakin look at each other, and realize they have no other choice. They cross the street to the prisoner. 

Still keeping his gaze on the two of them, the prisoner orders the officer to get some cool drinks for the three of them, who looks at the prisoner incredulously, but does what he is told. 

“Hi! I’m Hondo! I heard your story at the station! But first, how much do I get for giving you some information?” He waggles his eyebrows. Ben rolls his eyes and Anakin turns to walk away. 

“She was tall, skinny, and bald. Wearing a black and red sari.” The words stop Ben and Anakin in their tracks. They turn back as one. 

“Did you see her?” Anakin asks.

“She was dialing her phone behind her back, and then pepper sprayed you guys. She took the bag from him,” here Hondo points to Ben, who gets a glare from Anakin at the reminder, “and escaped on a black sports bike driven by a guy with spiky hair and tattoos.” 

Ben and Anakin both nod at him. “Do you know them?” Ben asks. 

Hondo laughs. “Of course I know them! She calls herself Ventress and he calls himself Maul. Brother and sister. With the business _I_ do, one has to know them.” 

  
  
Ben groans. “Of course it’s her! How did I not notice?”   
  


Hondo chuckles. “She’s a wily one, my friend, and great with disguises.”   
  


“Can you tell us where they are?” Anakin asks.

“If you were looking for underaged girls, Ventress and Maul would have sold them in Hyderabad. If the pair stole your vehicle, they would have sold the parts at Sore Bazaar in Guntur. But because you’re looking for jewelry, they would have sold your gold in Chinthakayala Ramana’s shop which is beside the Kaleshwara market in Vijayawada.” 

“You said you knew Ventress because of your ‘business’,” Anakin snarls. “Do you also participate in _slavery_? Sex trafficking little girls?” 

Hondo laughs. “Oh no, it seems you haven’t heard of me. Hondo Ohnaka? The Pirate? Ring a bell?” 

Anakin and Ben stare at him in astonishment. This man is one of the most famous drug dealers in the state. He calls himself The Pirate and has kidnapped high-profile politicians numerous times in order to ransom them for money. 

“If you’re such big shit, then how come you got captured in some lowly jail here?”

Hondo smirks. “They don’t know it’s me yet.” His voice drops to a whisper. “I gave ‘em a fake name. Don’t worry, I’ll be out of here by this afternoon. Now go and find your jewelry, boy.” He pats Anakin’s shoulder affectionately like they’re friends, and winks at Ben. Anakin bristles.

Ben and Anakin thank Hondo, with Ben grudgingly putting a hundred-rupee bill into Hondo’s handcuffed hands, and walk away. The pair starts discussing ways to get to Vijayawada safely. At one point, they pass an outdoor bathroom and take turns using it. 

When Anakin goes inside, Ben immediately takes out his phone and dials his brother’s number. 

“It’s a black bag. Stolen. At Ramana’s shop in the Kaleshwara market in Vijayawada. Talk to Dad immediately. No, not that one, the nicer dad. I want to have those jewels by evening. Talk to Dad, this is really urgent and important.” A pause. “Yes, I’m safe.” Another pause. “I’m with… it’s complicated. Bye. Love you, Quin.” 

Ben manages to close his phone and look normal by the time Anakin comes back outside. 

“Ready?” he asks. Anakin nods, and they continue on walking, debating whether it would be safe to take a bus or not. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin’s family is back! Translations are at the bottom, as always.

As they walk, Anakin gets lost in his own thoughts. He thinks about the jewelry, and then he thinks about how disappointed his mom would be in him for losing it all. The thought is almost enough to make him cry. Whatever issues he had with Tahl, he missed her a lot. Suddenly, Anakin has to sit down on the side of the road they had been walking on. 

Ben stops immediately. “Anakin? Ani? May I call you that?” Anakin manages a nod. His name sounds so good in Ben’s accent… Then he remembers why he was sad in the first place and lets out a sob. 

“What’s wrong, Ani?” 

“A diamond jewel of my great-grandfather. A necklace of my grandpa’s mother. Gold chain links of my grandpa. My mother’s  _ vaddanam _ . Everything was passed down from generations ago, to me. For my marriage. And now it’s all gone.” He can’t help but sob again. “Why didn’t I leave everything at home! I was just so upset, and so confused, and now because of me they’re all gone. And then I blamed you because I couldn’t even stomach the fact that I lost them.” 

Ben’s hand hovers near Anakin’s shoulder, unsure how well physical contact would be received, but Anakin doesn’t see it. “My mother would be so heartbroken that the jewelry was gone.” 

“Don’t cry,” Ben soothes. “I will get your jewels back to you by this evening, I promise, alright?” 

Anakin shakes his head. “How can I face her, after this?” He buries his face in his hands. 

Ben thinks. “Well, do you want to call your mother?” Anakin’s head whips up. 

“My father would kill her if he caught her talking to me, after I ran away!” he hisses. 

Ben has an idea, though. “What if he didn’t know?” 

“What do you mean?”

Ben takes out his phone. “What’s your mom’s phone number?”

“That’s not going to work, Qui-Gon would have confiscated it because I’m more likely to call her than him.”

“Alright, what’s your landline’s number?” 

Anakin rattles off the digits as Ben types them in his phone, but is skeptical. “He’s still going to be the one to answer it!” 

Ben smiles at him, perfectly calm in the face of Anakin’s panic. “I know.” He presses the call button.

As expected, Qui-Gon Jinn picks up the phone. “Who is it?” he says gruffly. 

“Hello. This is Ben Kryze speaking. I am here to inform you of your Amazon purpose of two saris. We were able to ship them to your state but in transportation the floral design on the  _ benaras _ was ruined. If you would like, I can replace the  _ benaras  _ sari with a green  _ kanchi pattu  _ sari, or a yellow silk designer sari. I would recommend the designer one, as the material is really lovely-” Qui-Gon doesn’t need to hear any more about floral designs on saris. 

“Tahl!” he yells. His wife comes down the stairs. “It’s for you. Something about a  _ benaras _ …” As she reaches for the phone, Ahsoka walks into the living room. 

“Uncle Qui-Gon, they’re saying they saw Ani at the bus station. He was with another man.” 

Qui-Gon immediately gets up to go talk to whoever got that piece of information, and Tahl holds the phone to her ear. 

“Hello?”

Anakin is trembling. “Mom?” 

“Ani! My sweet Ani!” Tahl is overjoyed. She’d honestly thought she’d never hear her son’s voice again.

“Mom!” Anakin holds back tears, in vain. 

“Why are you crying, and where are you? Are you safe?”

“I’m… somewhere. And yes, I’m safe. I’m happy.” Anakin laughs a little. He’s missed his mother, so much. “I met a man named Ben-”

His mother gasps. “A man?”

Anakin makes an irritated noise. “He’s not like that. He’s a really good man-” 

Ben tries not to preen next to him. 

“-even if he can be a bit annoying.” 

Ben stops and frowns at Anakin. 

“Just a little bit,” Anakin says, catching the expression, smiling at Ben to show he was just teasing. Ben rolls his eyes, but the corners of his eyes crinkle to show he’s not mad about it. “Don’t worry. I’m going to Hyderabad.”

“What do you mean Hyderabad? Just please come home, dear. You can marry Obi-Wan Kenobi and we can forget this entire situation. Your father won’t be mad at you that way, either!”

And just like that, Anakin is mad at his mother again. “I’m not marrying a man who only wants my money.” Ben flinches next to him. 

“Please listen to your mother, little one,” Tahl pleads. 

“Shut up, Mom! Love you. And don’t say anything about this to  _ him _ .” Anakin disconnects the call, and gives the phone back to Ben, belatedly realizing he never spoke to Tahl about the jewelry. 

“Thank you so much. I needed that,” Anakin tells the other man softly, keeping their hands attached for a moment longer than necessary. Ben blushes. 

“My pleasure.” he replies. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vaddanam- a piece of jewelry that goes around the waist 
> 
> Benaras - thick fabric, used for saris and other traditional Indian outfits 
> 
> Kanchi pattu - another type of fabric, but slightly more flexible


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I have to type out Viskhapatnam one more time... 
> 
> Also poor Obi-Wan, no one listens to him. 
> 
> As always, translations are at the bottom and comments and kudos are much appreciated!

“What kind of name is Ben?” They’re walking along an unused highway, next to some stray sheep. “I mean, it’s nice, but it’s so… bland. It’s not you.” 

Ben furrows his brows. “Thanks? I think?”

Anakin hums and keeps talking. “So where are you from?” 

“Visakhapatnam,” he replies, but Anakin stops dead in his tracks and almost looks… afraid of him. Ben grows concerned. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Lots of bad things happen in Visakhapatnam, they’re always on the news. Acid attacks, robberies, et cetera. And someone I knew from the village got murdered in Visakhapatnam.” Anakin frowns at the memory. “I’ve always heard it was a dangerous place with dangerous people.”

Ben makes an indignant noise. Anakin did not just insult his hometown like that. “Do you think everyone in Visakhapatnam is a serial killer? What about me! I’ve had so many chances to murder you or turn you in and I’ve never done anything!” Anakin blinks, but Ben keeps going. 

“And Visakhapatnam is the heart of Andhra Pradesh! Do you know how many great people are in the social, political, cultural, and financial fields in the city? Shankarmanchayam Sathyam, Hemantha Lavanam, Nanduri Subbarao, Vemuri Balaram, K. L. Rao, Koneru Hampi, Ayyadevara Kaleshwara Rao- And there’s so many more! People in the arts, people who are world-famous engineers, great at sports, politicians, directors, so many great people come from my city! If I told you about everyone, you would cry for the rest of your life and ask God why you weren’t born in Visakhapatnam.”  *****

Ben imagines boss music going on in the background. It’s the least he can do for his native city. America’s great, but nothing beats Visakhapatnam. He savors Anakin’s wide-eyed, mouth agape look for another moment and turns and keeps walking. 

-

It’s some time later when Ben and Anakin pass a couple driving in a ‘Just Married’ car. Ben decides not to bother them for a ride, but Anakin tenses next to him. 

“Fucking pig. He looks twenty years older than her.” he sneers.  “Rich, old, men using younger girls to be their servants and sex slaves. Making her stay at home and be a good housewife, then getting her pregnant so she can’t go anywhere else.” 

The couple in the car looked too similar to what Anakin had heard happened to some of his childhood friends whose families were too poor to let their kids go to school and instead married them off. 

Ben agrees with Anakin’s vehemence; he’s never met one of the rich men Anakin is ranting about in real life but they make his skin crawl. He has always believed that marriage is an equal partnership between two people. 

Anakin continues, “And she probably had to pay the dowry.”

Ben attempts to make conversation. “I didn’t know dowry was still in practice.” From his lived-half-of-my-life-in-the-States perspective, the dowry system was supposed to have been eradicated by law in 1961. 

Anakin gives him an incredulous look. “Have you been living under a rock? Of course it is! My family had to do it too! Fifty lakhs of money, twenty acres of land, and two cows, all because the idiot was from fucking America. That’s why I ran away!” He finishes in a sing-song manner, cheerful to have avoided the grim fate he described before. 

Ben stops in his tracks, a murderous look on his face. “Your fathers-in-law asked your family for dowry?” 

Anakin shrugged. “Yeah, again, that’s why I’m here!” He doesn’t get why Ben is so pressed over it, at least Anakin was able to escape. 

Ben drops his face into his hands, muttering, “They had _one_ job. _One_ _fucking job_.” Anakin wants to ask what happened but is interrupted by the sound of clopping hooves. A couple of seconds later, a bullock cart comes into view. 

“Nobody will be looking for you on one of those!” Ben points out. 

They both ask the driver for a ride once he’s within hearing distance, and the old man accepts cheerfully. Once Ben and Anakin are settled on the cart, Ben crossing his arms in mock-grumpiness as Anakin beats him to shotgun, Anakin starts a conversation with the driver almost immediately. 

“Your bulls are so cute,  _ mama _ !” 

The driver beams. “They’re great, dear! I have depended on them to feed my family for the past thirty-odd years; they’re truly faithful animals.” 

“ _ Mama _ , can I ride them?” Anakin asks with a shy smile. Whenever he asked Qui-Gon when he’d get a chance to take out the bulls to do the farmwork, his father would just shake his head and say, “Later, Ani. You’re not ready yet.”  _ Well, Qui-Gon could go get fucked. Anakin was going to be the best bullock cart driver! _

The old man guides Anakin’s hands to the reins of the cart, steadying the bulls whenever Anakin accidentally tugs too tight. After a couple of minutes, it feels like he’s got the hang of it. 

“Great job, Ani!” Ben claps for him. Anakin turns himself around to face Ben - and nearly veers into a tree on the side of the road. 

“Eyes on the road!” The old man laughs, and Anakin blushes. “Don’t worry, all beginners get distracted like that. Other than that, you’re a natural! Bulls everywhere must like you.” 

He’s not wrong, the bulls at his father’s farm had loved Anakin. So had the horses. So had the cows. And the chickens, and the ducks, and the- 

_ CLOP, CLOP, CLOP, CLOP _

Anakin sees another bullock cart from the corner of his eyes, until it is just next to them, on the right side. But it is going much faster than the one Anakin and Ben are sitting in. Soon it’s a couple of paces  _ in front _ of him, which is  _ not acceptable _ . 

“ _ Mama _ ! That man is passing us!” The old man is oblivious to Anakin’s horror. 

“That’s fine, everyone goes at different speeds.”

“But he’s defeating us!” Anakin cries. Ben rolls his eyes amusedly from the back. 

“De-” The man sputters. “Nobody’s defeating us! We’re just traveling!” 

Anakin gives the reins back and stares straight into the driver’s eyes. “It is a matter of our personal honor and prestige,” he says gravely. “We have to go faster.” 

The man sighs, but then straightens up. “Alright, let’s show him our power.”

The cart increases its speed by almost twice the original amount, and Ben’s stomach lurches. 

“Faster,  _ Mama _ !” Anakin yells. 

“SLOWER,  _ MAMA _ !” Ben screams. 

“Let’s go! Beat that bastard! Show him who’s boss!” Anakin cheers the driver on. 

“I’M GOING TO FALL! Slow down, please!” The old man and Anakin both ignore Ben. 

Taking a shortcut, the driver passes the other cart, and Anakin whoops in victory. Ben takes a second to catch his breath. High speeds  _ really _ aren’t his thing. 

Suddenly the cart hits a stray boulder on the side of the road, and both Anakin and Ben are launched out of the cart. The fall feels like long minutes to Ben, whose life flashes before his eyes, and like another rush of adrenaline to Anakin, whose face curves into a grin halfway through the fall. 

The pair lands face-first in wet mud. 

Slowly they sit up, taking stock of their surroundings. The driver has stopped the cart to wait for them to get back on, but Ben waves the man away, as they’ve gotten within walking distance of a city and have no need for a ride now. 

Anakin has just ridden a bullock-cart for the first time, convinced an old man to have a race, and has been thrown off of a cart going at very high speeds. His brain is not working at the moment. As Ben attempts to stand up, Anakin throws a glob of mud right at his face. 

For a second, Ben just gapes at him, and Anakin thinks,  _ oh shit. This is it. He’s going to leave me right here and right now.  _ He closes his eyes, waiting for the angry words of how Ben was just trying to help and now it’s Anakin’s fault that they’re covered in mud and he had just thrown  _ more _ mud at him-

There’s a sudden wetness on his face. Well, all of him is wet and muddy right now, but this is new. Anakin opens his eyes and realizes that Ben… has thrown mud back. 

Thus begins their mud fight. 

Ben and Anakin abandon all thoughts of attempting to clean themselves up for the city, and wrestle around in the mud puddle. Ben rubs some into Anakin’s hair, and Anakin gets revenge by going for the ears. Finally, Ben pulls Anakin’s legs out under him, and Anakin, not one to be outdone, yanks Ben back in return, and they both land as one, Ben on top of Anakin. 

They break apart almost immediately, both blushing at the thought of their positions. The passion and playfulness from the mud fight is gone, replaced by something softer, more affectionate. 

Ben smiles up at Anakin. “I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.”

“Me too,” replies Anakin. 

They lock eyes for a few more moments, before gathering up their belongings, and walking towards the city together. This time they stand closer together than ever before, and their hands brush as they walk. Anakin thinks to himself,  _ maybe, just maybe,  _ he has a chance with Ben. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * This monologue in the movie is a lot longer but I got lazy and summarized it. Anyway Anand/Abhimanyu (who Ben/Obi-Wan is based off of) is iconic
> 
> Mama - uncle (indians call even random strangers by familial names, ex. People younger than you or close to your age you would refer to as brother/sister, and for older people you would refer to then as uncle/aunt, or if they are very old grandma/grandpa


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so school has started for me. I won’t be able to write like I did during the summer, so updates are probably going to be on the weekends. This doesn’t mean there’s going to be a new chapter every single weekend, though. I’m definitely going to continue and finish this fic, it’s just going to take a while. I’m projecting that there’s going to be maybe 20 more chapters, not including this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me trying to fit ROTS scenes into this modern-au fic: 😈

The hot water from the shower washes away the last traces of mud on Anakin’s hair and skin, and Anakin sighs in pleasure. As fun as the mud fight was, he learned that dried mud could be very itchy, not to mention smelly. 

Their appearances had gotten Ben and Anakin many weird looks as they walked into the hotel lobby, but Anakin didn’t really care. They had only gotten their rooms for one night, and after that they would be on their way to Vishakapatnam. 

Ben seemed frustrated by the delay, and Anakin thought it was because of his promise that he would get Anakin’s jewelry back by the evening. Honestly, Anakin was also nervous. Had the jewelry already been bought by someone else? Did Ventress and Maul lose it? 

Anakin shakes his head. He was going to have a relaxing shower, dinner, and a good night’s sleep first, and worry tomorrow. There wasn’t much he could do right now. 

He steps out of the shower wrapped in a towel, golden hair dripping wet, and realizes he can’t wear his mud-stained outfit from the morning, thrown haphazardly on the ground. Then he sees a shopping bag next to his clothes, with a sticky note on it: 

I got us some new clothes. I had to guess your size, so sorry if it doesn’t fit well. You can pay me back later :)

Anakin smiles, almost involuntarily.  _ Ben was so sweet _ . He opens the bag, expecting to find some cheap t-shirt and pants, but is surprised when he finds high-quality black ripped jeans and a blue sweater that’s as soft as a cloud. All Anakin can think is that the sweater is the exact grey-blue shade of Ben’s eyes, and suddenly Anakin wants to see him. 

He opens the door giddily to Ben’s room (they had decided they wanted adjoining rooms) and is met with a flash of pale skin and muscular legs that are hastily covered up with a white towel. Anakin’s eyes go wide and he turns around quickly. 

“I’M STILL CHANGING!” Ben screams, which would have made Anakin feel guilty, if not for the fact that his voice cracked in three different places. 

Anakin’s mind is still flashing back to what he saw in the instant before Ben covered it up, so it takes quite a bit of effort to stammer out, “I- I’m sorry! I just wanted to say t- thank you for the clothes!”

“Well you’ve said it, so get out!” Anakin nods and walks back into his own room numbly. As soon as he locks the door, he hears a long-suffering sigh coming from the other room. 

-

  
  


Anakin is woken up by Ben in the middle of the night. Yawning, he asks, “Wha’s happening?”

“The guy that caught you yesterday near the lake is here right now.” 

Anakin sits bolt upright. “Kit’s here?” he whispers. 

Ben nods. “He’s banging on my door, and it won’t take long before he gets the keys to open it. I can hear the hotel manager talking to him, and it sounds like they’re buddies.”

_ Shit _ . The manager must have recognized Anakin when they checked in and informed Kit. 

Anakin looks around. There’s no way out of his or Ben’s rooms, other than… 

“Let’s climb out the window!” He points to the far side of the room. Ben looks queasy. 

“I’m not great with heights-” 

“Come on!” Anakin takes his hand and tugs Ben over to the window. “They know you’re with me now, you’re in this for the long haul.” 

Ben looks at Anakin, then the window, then back to Anakin, and swallows. “Alright. You go first.”

Anakin shimmies down an overflow pipe easily, thoughts of sneaking out of his father’s mansion coming to mind. Ben hesitates, but leaps through the window when he hears the lock on Anakin’s room open. He sends a quick prayer to anyone who’s listening and follows Anakin down. 

They’re about halfway down, when Ben loses his grip on a particularly wet spot on the pipe. He screams and falls about four feet before his fingers grab onto Anakin’s waist. 

“You’re dragging me down!” Anakin complains.

“Sorry,” Ben apologizes, and brings his right arm over Anakin’s right shoulder. He then pushes up to put his left arm over Anakin’s left shoulder, so he is hanging onto Anakin’s neck. Anakin then carefully, slowly, climbs down the pipe. Ben is reminded of when Anakin said he knew how to fight; he definitely has enough muscle strength to do so. 

When they reach the bottom of the pipe, Ben jumps off first, and then Anakin. The sound of a group of whispering voices is enough to propel them into action. Their hands find each other’s as they run off into a side street, obscured from the hotel’s view by a grove of trees. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Instagram art acc is @ess.kay.art


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to add the classic ‘Obi-Wan likes tea trope’. And since I added that, I needed to write in my vehement dislike for herbal tea.

Anakin sips lightly at his coffee as he watches Ben like a hawk. The older man had been pacing around for almost twenty minutes, after making a phone call to someone. 

All Anakin got for an explanation was, “A friend of mine got your bag of jewelry from Ventress and he’s bringing it here. Also, don’t freak out when you see him.” Which wasn’t a great second sentence, but hey, Anakin wasn’t complaining. He was eager to have his jewelry back. 

Ben and Anakin had gotten into a minor spat while they were walking to the  _ dhaba _ they were at now, after escaping from the hotel in the early hours of the morning. The two had had difficulty finding a ride, and Anakin had taken out his anger and frustration on Ben, who snapped back saying that he had saved Anakin’s life multiple times by now. The walk to the  _ dhaba _ after that had been frosty, but slowly the tense mood shifted to more of a friendly one by the time they both finished their breakfast. 

“Our first couple’s fight!” Ben said, toasting Anakin with a piece of  _ dosa _ , both chuckling. Anakin didn’t bring up their (one-sided) argument before they went to the police station, as he was still embarrassed about losing his control like that. He had wolfed down his  _ dosa _ and was focusing on his coffee, while Ben was now working on his third cup of chai. 

Anakin thinks of how different they are. While Anakin doesn’t  _ hate _ chai, he thinks it’s useless. The caffeine isn’t enough to get him through the day, unlike some nice, strong, Bru coffee. However, he will admit that chai is much better than the herbal teas that white people drink. That’s just leaf water. All of the international students at his university had a thermos full of lemongrass tea, or some other leaf or weed that Anakin had never heard of. They were hyping it up so much he thought it must taste like heaven, but apparently their heaven tasted like the grass beneath his shoes.  _ Disgusting _ . 

On the other hand, Ben seems to live on chai. He definitely has a hipster professor-ish vibe to him, and the whole liking-chai thing only adds to that. He had raised a judgemental eyebrow at Anakin when he ordered an extra strong brew of coffee, and when asked, told him primly that “coffee was for people who hated their lives”. Which was fair, but Anakin thought his situation was exceptional. 

Suddenly Ben looks over Anakin’s shoulder and shouts. 

“Hey! We’re here!” 

Anakin cranes his neck over his shoulder to see Ben’s mysterious friend, and freezes. 

A dark-skinned man with dreads and gold eyeliner, dressed in a ripped black leather jacket that shows off his many tattoos, swaggers over to Ben with Anakin’s jewelry bag tossed over his shoulder. 

_ What the hell is Obi-Wan Kenobi doing here? _

Then he remembers that Ben had said he knew Kenobi and had gone to school with him, or grown up with him, something like that. He just prays that Kenobi would hand over the bag and leave without spotting Anakin. He doesn’t imagine it feels good to know your future husband ran out on you, whether he deserved it or not. Come to think of it, Anakin’s never even had a conversation with the man, he had been talking to someone on his phone the entire time. Had he been talking to Ben?

Kenobi grins at Ben, and starts to say, “Hey, Ob-” when he is cut off by Ben’s “Obi-Wan! What have you been up to?” 

Kenobi blinks in confusion, but nods along. “I’m doing great, I’ve been working on a few cases with Siri... How are you?” 

Ben shrugs uneasily. “Same old, same old. Can I have the bag?” 

Kenobi walks over to Ben, looking confusedly at him, but Ben’s face is a mask of calmness. Kenobi’s eyes dart behind him, to Anakin. 

_ Oh fuck. _

Anakin attempts to duck his head, but it’s too late, Kenobi’s seen. His eyes widen and he looks to Ben, mouth gaping. 

“He-” Ben grabs the bag from him and throws it over to Anakin, who grabs the bag and rifles through it, grateful for something to distract him from the fact that  _ the man he was supposed to marry and had run away from was right in front of him _ . Ben then grabs Kenobi and marches him to the back of the  _ dhaba _ . 

Anakin checks the bag, and is thankful to see that all of the pieces are there. However, he also finds a note at the bottom of the bag, reading, 

_ You owe me one, Quin. - Asajj.  _

Who was Quin? Anakin shrugged and decided he didn’t care. What mattered now was that the bag was in his possession and he wasn’t going to let it go again. He glances around, and when it looks like Kenobi and Ben aren’t coming back anytime soon, he walks over to the counter to get a plate of  _ vada _ s. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma just put in image links for some of these.
> 
> Dosa - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dosa_at_Sri_Ganesha_Restauran,_Bangkok_(44570742744).jpg 
> 
> Vada - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Medu_Vadas.JPG 
> 
> And lots of explanations by Obi-Wan to come in the next chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand a lot of problems could have been solved if Obi-Wan made a video call instead of a DVD but this movie was made in 2009 and adding in modern technology really changes the plot so ? pretend this is set somewhere in the 2000s.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated and they are what keeps me writing this!

“Alright, Obi, what the hell was that about?” Quinlan demands. He can’t believe his brother, who’s been missing for the last few days, is with the man who eloped on the day of their marriage. 

Obi-Wan sighs, but smiles. “It’s been a weird few days. Anakin only knows me as a helpful stranger named Ben, so I had to pretend you were me.” 

“You’re telling me he’s never seen your face or heard your voice,” Quin says in disbelief.

Obi-Wan nods. “He hasn’t seen the DVD, and since I wasn’t there at his house throughout the day, he thought  _ you _ were the person he was supposed to marry.” 

Quin wrinkles his nose. “Absolutely not, I am loyal to one woman, and one woman only. After I throw her in jail, that is.”

Quinlan worked as a member of an elite police task force in Visakhapatnam, and one of his ongoing missions was to bust a drug cartel in Vijayawada, run by the brother and sister duo of Maul and Ventress. However he and Ventress couldn’t stop flirting with each other every time they fought, much to Maul and Obi-Wan’s chagrin.  _ Not that his brother was any better _ , Quin thought. Obi-Wan practiced criminal law in America, and had a friends-with-benefits relationship with a forensic psychologist that went to the same law school as him, Satine Kryze.  _ Until Obi-Wan had seen Skywalker _ .

“If everything went perfectly, we would have been married three days ago, and leaving for America in another three days.”

“Yeah, if he didn’t elope.” 

Obi-Wan cuffs Quinlan by the ears. “He  _ ran away _ , not eloped. His family didn’t tell him about the marriage until the day it happened, and he just wasn’t ready for it. He reacted just as any sane person would have reacted.”

Quin shakes his head. “I still don’t understand.”

Ben groans in aggravation. “All of this is because of the greed of our dads. They knew I wouldn’t want them to ask for any sort of dowry. Hell, if I knew Anakin didn’t want to go through with the marriage I would have stopped it the second I realized. When the rest of you went to Amalapuram for the marriage, Sheev dropped me off in Rajahmundry because he had a  _ mukku _ in the Satyanarayana Swami Temple there for when I got married, and told my aunt to drop me at Amalapuram since I didn’t have a bike or a car, right?”

Quin nods, the pieces starting to come together. 

“He planned it so that he got all of the dowry before I could come and yell at him. The bastard was probably never going to tell me about it, either.” Ben looks at the ground, pursing his lips. “I thought even when I got dropped off in Rajahmundry that it might have been one of his stupid fucking plans. But I didn’t think it would be this big.”

“But how did you end up meeting Skywalker?”

“You know how busy Aunt Shaak is. She had some work to do on her computer so she told me to take the car and go by myself. While I was driving in Dhavaleswaram, one of the tires of the car got punctured. I got out of the car to buy myself some water; if there is a part of this country I haven’t missed it is the scorching sun.” Obi-Wan shudders. “I came back and was leaning against someone’s bike to drink the water when I saw Anakin, all dressed up for marriage, in front of me.”

He looks at Anakin, sitting in a different booth that has a good view of them. He has a piece of  _ vada _ in his mouth and waves at Obi-Wan, who smiles and waves back. 

“My mind went blank. He saw my face and didn’t even recognize me, so I had no clue what was going on. And then I got Dad’s call. The bastard used your phone since he knew I wouldn’t answer his calls. He told me I didn’t need to go to Amalapuram anyway, as the groom had run away. He also said that Anakin had had multiple affairs when he was at uni, and that’s why I was lucky to have escaped the marriage. Which is bullshit that I didn’t believe at any point, and plus, are we shaming people for dating now?” 

_ It was Sheev and Yan _ , Quin thinks resentfully.  _ They judged everyone _ . 

“Speaking of Ani,” Obi-Wan’s face takes on a dreamy expression. “I’ve seen many handsome men but he’s special. I’ve never felt this way for anyone before.” His eyes grow dark again. “I was the one who told our dads about Anakin, because I wanted to marry him based on love and affection. Not dowry money or social standing, without any of Sheev’s politician tricks.” 

Obi-Wan mocks Yan. “‘You’ve been so against marriage for so long, it’s our luck that you’ve accepted a man!’ They pretended to be so happy for me, but it didn’t stop them from ruining my marriage!” He looks back at Anakin. “Ani didn’t want to get married to a man he had never known, and was also concerned about having someone like our dads as part of his family. So he ran. I don’t blame him at all.” 

“Yikes, that’s terrible. I’m sorry Skywalker had to go through that. But he knows you now, right? You’ve spent a couple of days together and he knows you’re not an asshole. Why not tell him that you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

“Do you know what will happen if he finds out I’ve been lying to him this whole time?”

-

Anakin looks up as Ben and Kenobi approach. Whatever qualms he had about marrying Kenobi, he can’t deny that he’s been useful. 

“Thank you, Obi-Wan!” Kenobi smiles at him, but looks worriedly at Ben, for some reason. Ben takes a seat in front of Anakin, keeping steady eye contact with him. He takes a deep breath. 

“Ani, I’m so sorry. Actually, the Obi-Wan Kenobi you were supposed to marry… is me.”

Anakin can’t breathe.  _ What _ ? 

Ben- no, Obi-Wan notices his panic. “I mean, I sent you everything about myself in the DVD, but you didn’t see it…” he trails off. 

Anger blooms inside of his chest. He thinks back to how Ben always knew who Anakin was, and could recognize the members of his family. He thinks back to yesterday, when Ben had the gall to pretend that he didn’t know the dowry system was still in practice in India, all while his fathers had taken a shitload of dowry money from Anakin’s parents. 

“Were you pretending this whole time?” Obi-Wan must be able to sense the sheer rage in his voice, because he pales. “Following me around to see if I was a suitable husband?” Anakin’s voice turns icy. “Seeing if I was going to whore myself out to the first person I saw after running away?”

Obi-Wan violently shakes his head. “No, nothing of that sort, I swear we met by accident, and then I just wanted to keep you safe!” Anakin’s eyes fill with tears from the betrayal, and he stands up, knocking his chair over in the process. He’s angry, but it just hits him how alone he is now. The one person he thought was his company, who sympathized with him, who wouldn’t turn him in even for a reward… turned out to just be his stalker. 

“FUCK YOU!” Anakin spits out. Obi-Wan also stands up, and steps closer to console him. 

“Anakin-” 

Obi-Wan gets slapped. 

-

“And that’s what will happen if I tell him.” Obi-Wan finishes. Quin, next to him, winces. “I’m not being overdramatic, he has a short temper, which I learned the hard way.” 

Quinlan eyes his little brother. “Is that temper of his enough to convince you to leave him alone?” He still thinks Skywalker isn’t worth all the trouble that Obi-Wan went through, both before and after their intended marriage date. 

Obi-Wan gives him a flat look. “Not a chance. I’ve been with him for three days, and it’s been like a rollercoaster. Every second something new has happened, and I’ve realized that life with him won’t be boring. We’ve had our share of ups and downs, but it’s enough for me to want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“Oh my god, stop talking like you’re in a Telugu TV serial, you old sap.” the dark-haired man shudders. “So now what? I’m still pretending to be you?”

“For the time being, yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mukku - sort of like an oath. For example, if I wanted to get a good grade on an exam, I can make a mukku to the gods (or one specific god if I wanted to) that if they help me get a good grade, I would donate 50 dollars to a temple. Mukkus can vary a lot, depending on the favor being asked. 
> 
> Also I wanted to end the chapter after Imagination!Obi-Wan gets slapped, and leave y’all to guess what happened until the next chapter, but 1) I am nice and 2) I don’t want a cliffhanger that cheap


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a new chapter!

“Here, I know you’re short on cash.” Quinlan hands Ben a stack of bills. “And while you guys were rolling around in mud-” Ben rolls his eyes. “-and climbing out of windows, I got Skywalker his bus ticket to Hyderabad.” 

Ben looks at the ticket being offered to him, feeling as if a coil is tightening around his heart. He swallows, realizing that this was it, he was going to give Anakin the ticket and walk him to the bus station, and never see him again. Ben was flying back to America in a couple of days, and Anakin probably didn’t want to return to his family after the stunt they pulled, so there was no way they’d meet again.

He looks away, eyes suddenly wet. These past few days had felt great, and Anakin… had been a joy to be around. 

“I don’t know what he’ll think of me if I ask him to stay. I don’t know how he’ll feel if I ask if I can go with him on the bus to Hyderabad. I just don’t want to leave him.” 

Quin sighs and brings Ben in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Obi. Take care.” Ben tightens the embrace. He’d missed Quin, and this was the first time they had seen each other in person in several years. 

“Quin!” A female voice rings out. “We have to go!” Ben pulls away from his brother to see Quinlan’s partner, Siri Tachi, waving at him. “Hey, Obi!” 

Ben grins at Siri. “Hey!” 

“I’m sorry, I would stay around to chat, but the boss man wants Quin at the police station ASAP.” 

Quinlan winces. “That’s probably because I let Ventress escape again yesterday.” 

Siri rolls her eyes. “You two, I swear. If I have to hear her do her weird version of flirting one more time…”

Ben chuckles and gathers himself. “Alright, I’m going to go help Anakin. See you around, Tachi. Love you, Quin.” 

Both wave at Ben, with Quinlan blowing an exaggerated kiss at him. “Love you too, Obes!”

-

Anakin stands near the beachfront in front of the  _ dhaba _ , praying to the silhouette of the Kanakadurgamma Temple he can barely make out on the other side of the shore. 

_ I’m sorry, I can’t make it right now.  _ He makes a  _ mukku _ to himself to come back here and visit the temple, as he heard it was a very auspicious one. 

He sees Ben walking over and straightens up, suddenly aware of the fact that he was probably never going to meet Ben again. But if he lived in Visakhapatnam, that wasn’t too far from Hyderabad, right? It wasn’t like he lived in a different country or something. Maybe he could get Ben’s number… or would that be too forward? It can’t have just been Anakin that felt something between them these past few days, especially while they were wrestling in the mud. Hopefully, the attraction was mutual and they could do some long-distance dating, and it wasn’t all in Anakin’s head. 

Ben looks over at the temple Anakin was praying to, and turns back to him. 

“Look, I know you’ve never been to Vijayawada before, but it’s a tradition to visit Goddess Kanakadurga’s Temple.”

“I know, but I have to get to Hyderabad.”

Ben gives him a little smile, which makes Anakin’s stomach do a flip. “I know. Obi-Wan helped me book you a ticket on a bus which will take you from here to Hyderabad in one journey. Here are the details.” Ben hands Anakin the sheet of paper with his itinerary. 

When Anakin looks up again, Ben is staring at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“The bus doesn’t leave until the evening. So, we  _ have _ to go to the temple. I’ll show you around.” He seems to catch himself, suddenly looking unsure. “Unless you want to wait by yourself at the bus station. If you don’t want to come with me you don’t have to.” 

“I’d love for you to show me around.” Anakin doesn’t want to leave Ben, quite the contrary in fact, and doesn’t want him thinking that Anakin wants to get rid of him as soon as possible. 

Ben grins in relief. “Great!” 

Anakin looks around, realizing that Kenobi is missing. “Where did your friend go?” 

“Oh, he had to leave, his boss called him. Don’t worry about it.” 

“I mean, I guess he isn’t as much of a dick as I thought. Setting aside the whole letting-his-parents-steal-dowry-money-from-mine part. Maybe I  _ would _ have been happy with him. That’s the thing about the future, I guess. You never know what your alternate path could have looked like.” 

Ben’s face shutters, as if he doesn’t know what to think about Anakin just said. His mouth opens and closes, then he says determinedly, “Alright, let’s go. We have a temple to explore.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin: Huh, maybe Obi-Wan isn’t that bad 
> 
> Ben, sweating: About that


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this may be the longest chapter I’ve written. Also, the movie script didn’t translate as well into English in this chapter as I hoped it would have. It’s not like I copy it word for word or something, but I wanted to keep the tone of certain scenes and The Call is one of them. I remember thinking the dialogue was absolutely hilarious in the movie and now that I’m reading my writing, it kinda sounds cringy :( 
> 
> Translations at the end

The sound of hymns and bells fill the air as Anakin and Ben walk into the main part of Goddess Kanakadurga’s temple. Anakin has been craning his neck to see the cool architecture ever since they stepped in. There was never a temple this grand back in the village, and it’s all so big to him. 

They manage to get a spot at the front of the line, directly in front of the idol of the Goddess. Both Ben and Anakin immediately close their eyes and fold their hands in prayer. 

Anakin knows what he wants to wish for: all of his family and friends to be in good health, to have a good future after reaching Hyderabad, his father to realize that he didn’t do anything wrong- but most of all, he hopes that he and Ben will get to be more than friends someday. 

When they are done, they open their eyes to see the priest in front of them. He addresses Anakin first. 

“Tell me your name and  _ gotram _ , young one.”

“Anakin and Paidipala  _ gotram _ .”

The priest then looks to Ben expectantly. 

“Ob- Ben, and Pillutla  _ gotram _ .” Anakin can’t stop the snicker that comes out of his mouth in time, and the priest chastises him. 

“We shouldn’t make fun of  _ gotralu _ ,” he says, and hands them both a blessed flower. When the priest moves further down to the others, Ben and Anakin make their way out of the line. 

Anakin keeps trying not to laugh as they sit on one of the steps outside the main temple, as is tradition. Ben mock-glares at him. 

“Shut up,” he says, and Anakin cracks. Between bursts of laughter, he stammers out, 

“Pillutla!” 

Ben scoffs. “It’s much better than  _ Pandhi _ palu, anyway,” 

Anakin sobers up real quick, and points a finger at the other man. “Don’t you dare mock my  _ gotram _ . It’s Paidipalu.”

Ben gives him a scathing look, then moves as if to gather his things to leave. Anakin immediately feels horrible.  _ What did he do wrong?  _

“I’m sorry!” he calls out. “Please don’t go! I was just joking…” Anakin trails off as he sees Ben’s stoic expression slowly give way to a shit-eating grin. He punches the older man lightly in the shoulder as Ben laughs, rolling his eyes. 

Anakin shakes his head and lets himself smile, looking at the ground. “I feel so much at peace after visiting the temple. Thanks for bringing me here.”

“My pleasure,” Ben replies with a wink. 

They get up, moving to the side of the stairs overlooking the city. As the temple is on a high mountain, the stairs give an amazing view of Visakhapatnam. However, as soon as Anakin remembers who lives here, he feels annoyed all over again. 

“I don’t know how that fucker lives in the same place as such a holy temple.”

“Who?”

“My  _ soooon to be  _ father-in-law,” Anakin says, dragging the words to mock Palpatine’s silky, drawling voice. “One of them, at least. Sheeeev Paaaalpatine.” 

Ben only raises an eyebrow. 

“He probably is from Muthanishtapu  _ gotram _ ,” Anakin spits out. Ben chokes on the peanuts the priest had given them and wheezes in laughter. The sight makes Anakin chuckle as well. He doesn’t know the exact meaning of the word, but Qui-Gon had said it in reference to a man that had cheated on his wife with his neighbor’s cow, so he figures it must be bad. 

“Are you angry with him?” Ben asks. 

“Hell yes. If half of my surprise marriage is my dad’s fault, then the other half is Palpatine and Dooku’s. Although it seems like it’s mostly Palpatine pulling the strings in that relationship.”

Ben gets a steely glint in his eye. “Do you want to talk to him?” He pulls out his phone. 

“Do you have  _ everyone’s _ numbers saved on your phone? First my house’s landline, then Sheev Palpatine’s?” 

“He’s family, since he’s Obi-Wan’s dad.” Wait. Didn’t Ben say he and Obi-Wan were just friends? Maybe they were very distant cousins. It just hits Anakin how little he knows about Ben’s backstory, but before he can bring that up, Ben starts dialing. 

“No, no, no. I don’t think I can talk to him right now without losing my shit.” Anakin tries to grab the phone out of Ben’s hands. 

“You shouldn’t keep anything in your mind. Release your emotions as they come, and you will be happy.” On that last word, he clicks the dial button. “Just don’t mention your name and you will be fine.” 

“Won’t he see your caller ID?”

“Asterisk and 67, darling. He doesn’t know who I am other than an anonymous caller.”

-

The buzzing of his cell phone brings Sheev out of the online article he had been reading. He doesn’t bother to check who it is, if they have his personal number he must know them well. 

“Hello, Sheev Palpatine here.” There’s a slight pause, before all hell breaks loose. 

“FUCK YOU, YOU SLIMY BASTARD!.” Sheev does a double take, and looks at the caller ID, which says RESTRICTED CALLER. “You cheating, lying whore!”

He scrambles to say something, anything. “I’m sorry, but who is this? Do you know who I am?”

Sheev only has more questions when the (male) voice coming from his phone replies, “I am the Goddess Kanakadurga,” and cackles. 

“Now listen here. I didn’t cheat anyone-”

“You inbred little bitch! You want  _ my _ family’s money? I will stomp you to death!” 

Sheev glares at Yan, sitting on the couch next to him, who’s playing a game of chess on his phone. 

“Is this your doing? Did you hire someone to insult me? If you want to get back at me for what happened this morning, there are much better ways of doing it!”

Yan shrugs, amused. “You have many enemies in your chosen career, seems like one found out your number. I had nothing to do with it.” 

Sheev’s attention is brought back to his phone when the man shouts, “You two-faced, lizard-looking ass bastard!” 

“Listen!” Sheev growls. “You are testing my patience! Either be specific about who you are and what you want from me or shut the fuck up!”

“I will punch you into next week if I ever get my hands on you, motherfucker! Muthanishtapu! Your mom-”

Sheev can suddenly make out the laughter of a second person in addition to the man ranting at him, and he doesn’t waste a second in hitting the end call button. 

Yan raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Pretty sure it was a prank call. I disconnected as soon as I heard someone laughing in the background. I mean really, who else would call me… all those names, as if my political enemies were immature children.” 

Yan returns back to his game, but there’s a little smirk at the corner of his lips that has Sheev seething inside. Sometimes he really hates his husband. 

-

“Your mom-” Anakin realizes that the call has been disconnected. Beside him, Ben is shaking on the ground, wheezing. Anakin feels almost giddy with both adrenaline and the realization that he has probably just ruined Palpatine’s day, so he joins Ben in laughing until his sides hurt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotram - basically a patrilineal lineage, can be traced back to a small number of sages, used instead of a surname when doing Hindu rituals because surnames weren’t much of a thing in ancient times 
> 
> Pillutla - Anakin makes fun of this because it sounds like the Telugu word for cat, pilli 
> 
> Pandhipala - Pandhi is the Telugu word for pig
> 
> Also I wrote a one-shot about the legend that Tahl and Anakin were talking about in chapter 1, so that has been added to this series!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters will be a bit short, sorry. 
> 
> Angst and plot in this one!

Anakin has just finished telling Padme his estimated arrival time and where to pick him up, when Ben strides up to him with a loaded reusable bag. 

“I’ll call you later, Pads,” he says, and ends the call, giving the phone back to Ben. “What’s that for?”

Ben smiles, but it’s a little sad. “More like who’s it for. I bought you some stuff for your journey.” He pulls out the items as he lists them. “A bottle of water, some magazines and crosswords if you get bored, and snacks if you get hungry.”

Anakin just looks at him, throat suddenly closing up. “I couldn’t-”

“It’s a gift, Ani. That’s all it is.” Ben reassures him. 

Anakin shakes his head. “You’ve already done so much for me, the bus ticket, the clothes, getting Obi-Wan’s help, this is too much.”

“What’s one more purchase? And don’t worry, you can pay me back when you get to Hyderabad, like you always say.” He winks and Anakin smiles, that’s almost like their inside joke now. 

“How? I don’t have a way to contact you.” 

This is it. This is the moment Anakin will either get Ben’s number or the other man isn’t interested in him in any way. 

Ben's face falls immediately. “Uh-, I… My number…” he trails off, looking anywhere but Anakin. 

Oh. So that’s how it was. But because Anakin is so far gone already, he might as well push once more. “Do you have any social media then? Like, a Facebook account?” Maybe he doesn’t want it to be too personal. Whatever, Anakin can just stalk his social media profile and keep trying to ask him out and-

“No, sorry,” Ben says, “I don’t have any social media.” He winces even as he says it, looking panicked at the whole situation, and he has yet to meet Anakin’s eyes. Anakin thought Ben being flustered would have looked cute, if it he wasn’t feeling like someone has just punched him in the face. 

Anakin resolutely wills himself not to cry, not in front of the man he’d just made a fool of himself for. Of course Ben would never want the mess that Anakin is. Just like his friends, who grew up with him but left as soon as they saw his inner demons. Just like his family, never once getting in the way of Qui-Gon. Ben deserves much more than Anakin. 

Ben shuffles on his feet awkwardly. “I’ll go check the bus timings,” he says, and walks off in the direction of the ticket counter, even though they’ve both memorized the schedule by now, and it’s printed on the ticket Anakin has in his pocket. 

Now alone, Anakin lets the tears fall. 

-

Ahsoka sighs as she towels herself dry. She and Qui-Gon had gone for a bath in the Krishna River, as it was very auspicious to do so. They had come to Vijayawada where Kit had said he had last seen Anakin, and decided to stop by the temple of Kanakadurgamma as was tradition. According to a priest, your wishes would come true if you bathed in the river around the temple before you entered it. Ahsoka wanted to just go inside the temple already, but unfortunately, her uncle was the sort of person who believed in all of the mystical crap. 

“Fuck this town,” Qui-Gon snarls. “If it weren’t for the Goddess I might have gone to murder that man the second I stepped foot in Vijayawada. Might help this city too, since everybody knows he’s as crooked as a hook. Also, where’s Mace?” 

Ahsoka turns in the direction she last saw Mace Windu. “He went to get things for the po-” She stutters to a stop, seeing a very familiar face. 

“Ani!” Her brother-in-law’s head whips around to see her. Qui-Gon just blinks at her. 

“What?”

She turns to Qui-Gon. “Anakin’s here!” Ahsoka shouts. “Right over there!” She points… to an empty spot. Shit.

“Don’t worry, ‘Soka, he won’t escape again. Now we know he’s here somewhere, and we will find him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin, who has used Obi-Wan’s phone to call his mom and Palpatine: what’s your number? 
> 
> Obi-Wan: I don’t have a phone sorry 
> 
> Also Obi-Wan internally: IM SO SORRY PLEASE DONT CRY ITS JUST THAT MY AREA CODE IS NOT INDIAN AND YOULL FIND OUT THE TRUTH AND THEN YOULL HATE ME :(((


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ben.

Not for the first time, Ben feels like he should just fess up to Anakin right now. The hurt in his face and the tears in his eyes as Ben brushed off Anakin’s attempts at getting his contact made him feel horrible. 

Ben wanted to keep in touch, he really did. Even though they had a rough start, they quickly became good friends in the three days they had known each other. He knew that Anakin returned his feelings. The only problem was that Anakin didn’t like Obi-Wan, instead liked the stranger that he had met while he was running away from an unwanted marriage with Obi-Wan _.  _ And that terrified him.

Anakin would never want to have a relationship with someone who’s entire experience with him was a lie. He would leave for Hyderabad the moment Ben told him who he really was and forget it all happened. And telling him years later, after they dated and possibly got married for real, was absolutely out of the question. He would never betray Anakin’s trust like  _ that _ . 

So when Anakin asked for his number, all he could think of was the +1 in front of the phone number that designated an  _ American _ number. When Anakin asked if he had any social media, Ben only thought of obi_ken_obi, his Facebook username. And the selfie he took in front of the Statue of Liberty with Quin (who was tagged in the photo). And the pictures of his graduation at Princeton University. And… point being, there was no way to hide the fact that he was Obi-Wan Kenobi online. Even though he hated seeing Anakin sad, he was too much of a coward to tell him the reason why he didn’t want to exchange contacts.  _ Selfish _ , his mind whispered, and Ben closed his eyes. 

The only other option was to let Anakin go tonight, and never talk to him again. Anakin would only remember him as a helpful, if mysterious, stranger that didn’t return his feelings.

_ Fuck _ , but he’d been so close. 

So close to finally getting to meet the man he’d been dreaming of for weeks, and possibly marrying him. If Anakin wasn’t ready just yet, he would have agreed to have a long-distance relationship, even if it wasn’t ‘traditional’ in the eyes of their parents. 

And both of their goddamned parents just had to go and ruin it. 

-

_ Shit, shit shit,  _ had that been Ahsoka that he’d seen? And Qui-Gon? How did they even get here? Anakin barrels into Ben at the ticket station, ignoring the painful conversation they had earlier. 

“Qui-Gon’s here!” he says breathlessly. Ben immediately straightens up, an arm snaking around Anakin to keep him behind Ben and out of sight. 

“Anakin Jinn-Skywalker!” Qui-Gon roars, pushing people out of his way to run towards Ben and Anakin. Behind him, hot on his heels, is Ahsoka. 

Anakin sees his father coming towards him, and all he thinks is that he  _ can’t go back, please.  _ In his panic, he lets go of Ben and sprints away. After a minute, he ducks into the space between a lorry and the side of a building, hoping that he’s lost his family. Anakin listens intently for people shouting his name, or people running in general, but the footsteps he hears are singular and realizes belong to Ben. He carefully climbs out of his spot, aiming to meet up with Ben and get out of the city, when he sees Mace Windu. Anakin and Ben’s eyes meet, but Anakin shakes his head, points at Mace, and tries to sneak away. 

Mace approaches Ben, and Anakin thinks for a moment that he saw Anakin and Ben together and is questioning him on where Anakin is, but to his surprise Mace greets Ben with confused warmth. 

“Hey, young man! Weren’t you the one supposed to ma-” Ben cuts him off. 

“Yeah, that’s me, Mr. Windu. Look, I really have urgent business in the city, so I need to go.”

“Ah, I see.”

Anakin can’t hear Mace or Ben anymore as he clambers into the back of a lorry, and pulls the doors shut. He takes a breath of relief in that no one other than Ben has seen him get into the truck, and therefore Qui-Gon or Ahsoka won’t know where he is. He hears a slight click coming from the doors, but he doesn’t pay much attention to it until the lorry’s engine starts. Anakin jolts into alertness, only now realizing he is leaning on crates carrying bags of rice. This must be a goods transportation lorry, he thinks, and moves to open the doors and jump back out. Anakin’s face pales when he realizes that the click he had heard earlier was the driver locking the doors. The lorry starts to move, and all Anakin can think is,  _ fuck _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lorry - similar to a truck (idk if this needed to be translated but I put it here just in case) 
> 
> Mace: Obi-wan? What are you doing here?
> 
> Obi, internally: play dumb! 
> 
> Obi: who’s Obi-Wan?
> 
> Obi, internally: not that dumb!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!

Anakin hurriedly clambers over crates, body tilting in time with the lorry’s movements. He’s never been inside a lorry, but he figures there’s probably a door attaching the back half of the truck to the driver, right? 

His fumbling around in the dark is rewarded with what feels to be a doorknob. Anakin bangs on the door with all of his strength, hoping that he can be heard. And thank God, the lorry pulls over to the side of the road and stops. A couple of seconds later, a very irate man opens the door. 

“Why the fuck are you in here?” he demands. 

“I’m so sorry, sir, I’ll be on my way out.” Anakin apologizes profusely and disembarks, the driver muttering curses underneath his breath. From what Anakin can understand, the driver is now a grand total of two minutes late to a grocery delivery, and he has to fight not to roll his eyes lest he make the driver more mad. 

As he gets down on the road, he sees Ben coming towards him, having hitched a ride on somebody’s motorcycle. The older man steps off and thanks the driver, then jogs over to where Anakin is. Soon the lorry and the motorcycle drive off and it’s just the two of them on the side of the road. 

“What were you thinking?” Ben chides Anakin. “How stupid are you to decide the best place to hide is in a lorry that could drive off at any time because we are in a  _ marketplace _ !”

Anakin had thought Ben would be all sweet and concerned, checking to make sure he was okay or something, but it seems as if he thought wrong. He remembers their conversation earlier, about how it seemed as if Ben didn’t even like him, and suddenly Anakin is angry as well. “Well, it’s not like I knew the thing was going to move right when I got in there! And I wasn’t thinking straight, because the man who would have married me off to some money-minded jerk I don’t even know was chasing me!” 

Ben’s face softens a fraction. “I’m sorry, I sh-” 

“No!” Anakin points a finger into the other man’s face. “I am tired of your condescending attitude. Where would  _ you _ have hid? It’s not like I had options other than keep running for possibly who knows how long, or walk into the ocean and fucking swim to the other side of the city!”

“I’m just trying to keep you safe,” Ben tries to placate him, frowning.

“I NEVER ASKED!” Anakin screams and Ben flinches.  _ Good, let  _ him _ be the hurt one for a minute _ . “I never asked you to follow me around like a lost fucking puppy. What do you even do for a living? Why are you still with me? Don’t you have other things to do?” 

Ben’s voice takes on a hard edge. “Well, actually, now that you mention it, you  _ did _ ask me to follow you!  _ You _ were the one that told me, no,  _ threatened _ me to get your jewels back. And before that, I was only following you around because you stole my fucking  _ wallet! _ Twice! After I got you your jewels back, it was only a moral obligation to get you your ticket, that’s it. Plus, it wasn’t me that did that, it was Obi-Wan. And all throughout this time, I could have made one phone call and you would be back with the same man you’re running from right now.”

Anakin… can’t say anything in response to that, because it’s true, and even thinking about the new revelation that Ben never liked him hurts like hell. He doesn’t reply, just goes and sits down on a bench a few feet away, with his hand in his hands. 

After a couple of minutes of Ben pacing, and Anakin feeling more miserable than he had ever felt in the last three days, Ben sits down next to him with a sigh. 

Ben and Anakin speak at the same time. “I’m sorry-” They stop, and chuckle. Ben gestures to himself, and continues speaking. 

“I’m sorry about lashing out at you. You were in a tough situation and I shouldn’t have immediately yelled. Also, I said some things I really didn’t mean. I’m following you around because I genuinely like you and want to spend time with you.”

Anakin smiles at Ben. “I’m glad to hear that.” He looks down at the ground. “And I’m sorry for how I acted when we first met, and the whole stealing part. Even now, I lost my temper. It was perfectly alright for you to be concerned, and I only saw it as you being condescending.” 

“Well, since we both messed up, can we put this behind us?”

“Of course, Ben. That reminds me, I don’t even know your last name! I’m sorry if I’m being too personal, but I really don’t know anything about you other than the little things I’ve picked up on in the past few days, such as the fact that you like tea and you have a lot of pride for your native city.”

Ben winces, but the expression is gone in a split second. “Sure, Ani. What do you want to know?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is our boy going to tell Anakin or is he going to chicken out 👀


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The answer to the question I put in last chapter’s notes: 😔
> 
> Also slight edits have been made in previous chapters for continuity.

“So let me get this straight. You’re Ben Kryze, a distant cousin of Obi-Wan Kenobi. You work as a sales agent for Kalamandir in Visakhapatnam, and are using up your large number of vacation days to get me to Hyderabad because you don’t know what else to do with them.” Anakin summarizes. “Oh, and your parents recently died in a car accident. Sorry again.”

“That’s alright, I was never really close with them.” Ben replies. 

“I would tell you about myself, to reciprocate, but you know my story  _ very _ well.” 

That draws a chuckle out of the older man. “Yes, I do.”

Anakin hums. He’d finally found out about Ben’s family and where he came from, but he wants to know more. He racks his brain for something to ask, something non-personal, like a favorite color, or favorite place to visit... 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Anakin blurts out and immediately winces. He feels like beating his brain with a stick.  _ Bad, bad, bad. _ “Or a girlfriend. Or someone special.” Anakin shuts up, deciding it’s the smartest thing to do. 

Ben just smirks at him, amused by Anakin’s inner panic. “None currently. And if you’re trying to, or I guess trying not to, ask about my sexuality, I’m bisexual.” 

“Oh.” A loud honk brings Anakin out of his thoughts, and they both look up to see the taxi they had booked while they talked driving towards them. Ben and Anakin gather their things and stand up to greet the driver who has gotten out of the car. He’s tall and skinny, with a sickly pallor to his skin. 

“Hello. It’s a great pleasure to meet you.” The driver says in an almost too-cheery voice, bowing deeply to them. “I am J.J. Binks from B.B Cabs. This is the taxi you have hired.” 

“Thank you,” Anakin says. He and Ben move to get into the car but JJ stops them. 

“Wait, sirs, I have some rules. I am the only one allowed anywhere near the front seat, so you two have to sit in the back. We will only stop two times on the way to Hyderabad. And you have to pay me before we start, as that is the company’s policy. If you have an objection with any of this I will go back.”

“That’s okay with us,” Ben says. “Now, can we go-”

“One more minute, sirs. I need the phone numbers of your closest relatives or friends.”

Anakin and Ben look at each other in confusion. “Why do you need that?” Anakin asks suspiciously.  _ Did this man know Qui-Gon? _

“Well, you see sirs, if we get into an accident on the way to Hyderabad, I need to be able to inform your family of your condition.” 

Ben rolls his eyes before Anakin can say anything. “His number is 111-222-3333, and mine is 444-555-6666.” 

JJ doesn’t seem to understand the sarcasm, and only exclaims, “Wow! I’ve never met someone with repeating numbers like that, let alone two people!” He writes the numbers down, while Anakin gives Ben a ‘what the hell is he doing’ look. Ben just shrugs his shoulders. Finally, JJ lets them into the cab. As per JJ’s rules, Anakin and Ben sit in the cramped backseat. 

The first hour or so is bearable, but then JJ pulls over to the side of the road suddenly. 

“Why have you stopped here?”  _ It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you _ , Anakin reassures himself. 

“I have to go pay a tax,” JJ replies, and hurries out of the car. 

Anakin turns to Ben. “What fucking tax?”

Ben scoffs. “Probably a road or a vehicle tax…” He trails off as he sees through the car’s window where the driver has gone. He moves closer to be able to see, mouth agape, and Anakin turns to see what that reaction is for.  _ Oh _ . 

JJ Binks has gone into a liquor store. Ben and Anakin wait, holding their breath, and soon enough, JJ comes out with a liter of brown liquid. As they watch, he downs the entire thing in one chug, which makes Anakin raise his eyebrows in surprise. “I mean, I thought he looked like a druggie but I didn’t expect him to actually get drunk, holy shit.” 

Ben looks a little bit impressed. “He drank the whole bottle in one go!” 

As JJ heads towards the car, they quickly move back into their original positions. JJ stumbles into the driver’s seat and messes up the ignition twice before actually starting the car. 

Anakin turns to whisper to Ben. “I don’t like this, we should get off now.” 

Ben nods, eyes on the traffic on the road ahead of them and the steadily increasing speedometer. “I agree. But wait, I want to know one thing…” He leans closer to JJ, and asks him, “What did you mean by paying the tax?” 

JJ slurs out, “Do you know who pays the most tax in this country? You! Wait no, not you, me! Drunk people! Do you know the alcohol income of this state per year?”

Anakin and Ben both shake their heads mutely. 

“Twelve thousand crores!” 

Both of the men gape at JJ. 

“These roads we are roaming, government hospitals, colleges, police stations, all of it is possible through us making the biggest sacrifice. We drunkards are spoiling our health by paying the government so much in taxes!” On that last word, JJ slumps over in his seat, asleep. The car swerves and Anakin immediately leaps for the wheel. While Anakin gets it under control, Ben crawls down to the pedals. 

“Pull over, Anakin!” he shouts. As he feels the car turning, Ben presses the brake with his hand. Slowly, the car comes to a stop, Ben and Anakin both panting hard from fear and adrenaline. 

They look at each other, then at JJ, who they were sprawled over. 

“This is absolutely terrible service,” Ben quips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin: please God, can I have one good day?
> 
> God, in sunglasses: you again? Give it a rest, buddy!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a teensy bit more Quinlan/Ventress content for @HyperactiveHedgehog! 
> 
> Also, if everything goes right, there are 4 more chapters after this one, so we’re nearing the endgame!

In the end, they decide to leave both JJ and the taxi where they are, and go inside a cafe to talk about what to do next. 

“We could book another cab,” Ben suggests. “We could even get one from a different company.”

Anakin is about to agree when Ben’s phone rings. “It’s Padme!” Ben tells Anakin after glancing at the screen. Anakin takes the phone and picks up, ready to apologize for not being able to come to Hyderabad as soon as he’d told her he would. 

“Hi Chandra!” Padme greets him. “Sorry, I won’t be able to come for two days.”

“What? Padme, it’s me, Ani!” 

He hears a muffled noise, and a very familiar voice murmuring to Padme in the background. She continues, “Did you know, Chandra? Our friend from uni, Anakin Skywalker, has run away from his marriage!” 

Anakin can’t answer, frozen in panic. Hyderabad was supposed to be his safe place, no one should have known about Padme, how the hell did they find out? 

“His relatives, including Mr. Fisto, came over to my house to see if he was here.”

“Bastards!” Anakin snarls. 

“Really, Chandra? Alright, I’ll tell them.” 

Anakin hears, _Is your friend talking about Ani?_ from Kit. “Of course, Mr. Fisto, he’s assuring me that if he finds Anakin he’ll tell me.” 

Padme addresses Anakin again. “Poor family, they are really very worried about Anakin.” 

_I’m sure they are,_ Anakin thinks darkly. “Okay, okay. I understand. I’m not coming to Hyderabad.”

“Yes dear, I’m sure Anakin will be grateful. He’s probably lost somewhere in the state.” 

“If you can, call me after Kit leaves!” 

“Okay, Chandra, see you later!” Padme disconnects the call. 

Anakin stares at the phone, then at Ben. “What now?”

-

“Did you have a Plan B?” Anakin miserably shakes his head. Padme had been the only thing Anakin had thought about when he jumped out of his bedroom window three days ago. Not that Kit showing up at her house unannounced was her fault; Anakin should have known the universe would intervene when he tried to have a happy ending. “What if you went to Hyderabad after you were sure Kit was gone? You told Padme to call you back, right?”

Anakin nods. Then his eyes catch a couple sitting a few tables away, trying to blend in and keep their existence a secret at the same time, and he blinks. “Is that Obi-Wan?” 

Ben whips his head around his shoulder to see who Anakin was looking at, then looks like he’s trying to stop himself from leaping at Kenobi and strangling him. “Yes,” he grits out. 

“Who’s that with him?” The woman seemed familiar… 

Ben sighs. “It’s Ventress.” 

“What?” 

“Yeah, she’s great at disguises. I’ve met her a couple of times before, and yet when I saw her two days ago, I didn’t even realize it was her because she looked so different.”

Anakin stares back at the couple. As he watches, Kenobi scrunches up his lips to show her his milk mustache (from drinking his cup of Boost milk), and Ventress rolls her eyes in fond annoyance. 

Ben puts a hand on his forehead. “This is such a conflict of interests, I don’t know how he hasn’t gotten fired already.” When Anakin turns to him with a questioning eyebrow, he explains, “Qu- Obi-Wan is an undercover agent, and he’s supposed to be tracking down Ventress and turning her in.” 

“Well, that relationship is a shitshow.” He thinks he hears Ben muttering, _not the only relationship that’s a shitshow here_ , but he might be imagining things. And then Anakin remembers who Ventress really is, and his respect for Kenobi erodes. “He’s dating a _child trafficker_.” he spits out. 

“Technically, they’re not dating. I’ll bet you anything he’s pretending he’s only here to spoil one of her ‘nefarious plans’. Not that she believes it, but she understands his career is hinging on their cover not being blown. And yes, she’s a slaver, but Obi-Wan’s trying to make her see the error of her ways.”

“I still don’t like it.” 

Ben shakes his head. “That makes two of us.” 

Suddenly, Ben’s phone rings. It’s Padme, and Anakin picks up, putting her on speaker. 

“Padme?” 

“Ani, I’m so sorry about that. Fisto’s gone now, and he said he was going to look near our university again. I don’t think he’s coming back anytime soon.” 

“Alright, I don’t know when I’ll reach there, though. I had to miss my bus at the Visakhapatnam station because dear old Dad was chasing me.”

“Oh, no!”

“Yeah, and the hired cab driver turned out to be a drunkard. Now we don’t know what to do.” 

Padme thinks for a moment. “You could hitch a ride on a lorry?” 

Anakin shudders. “Already did that, it was a bad idea.”

“I mean a public-transport one.” 

Ben looks pensieve. “That could work,” he murmurs softly. 

“Thanks Padme, I’ll see if I can try that. If not, I’m probably going to book another cab. Either way, I’ll see you sometime in the next day or two.”

“Bye, Ani. Good luck!” 

“Bye, Padme!” Anakin smiles down at the phone even though he knows Padme can’t see it. Talking to her never fails to make him happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boost is the best brand of chocolate milk powder, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise 
> 
> Me writing chapter 13: I’m going to be nice and let my readers know it’s just in Obi-Wan’s imagination, plus I don’t like cliffhangers 
> 
> Me writing the next chapter: 😈


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: this is not meant to be anti-BLM. I’m just following the plot of the movie. I fully support BLM and peaceful protests. In India, however, most protests are definitely NOT peaceful and protesters will beat up anyone around them for not supporting them. This is not a social commentary about protests. 
> 
> Also I lied, I had to split this one up into 2 chapters so the chapter number has gone up and the cliffhanger is in the next chapter. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!

Ben and Anakin follow Padme’s advice. They got a ride on a public lorry for a low fee, and now both of them enjoy the breeze on the top deck of the lorry. The only downside is that it’s very crowded, with other travellers and a group of devotees having the same idea as them, and as such Ben and Anakin are pressed together somewhere near the back. It was bad enough being among so many people, as Anakin was claustrophobic, but being so close to Ben and not being able to touch? It was torture. They both avoid the other’s eyes throughout the entire ride, blushing hard. 

At the third stop, where they are greeted by thousands of people chanting and waving signs, Anakin realizes that the lorry was a bad idea. It turns out most of the people on the lorry weren’t just regular travelers, they were protesters. As the lorry pulls into the square of rioters, the ones on the lorry leap off with a fury. 

From the signs, Anakin can make out that the protest is about reducing the price of essential items, like rice and vegetables. Many people are chanting that the people in charge are greedy bastards who increase the prices for their own profit. He definitely supports the cause, but he knows how bad protests can get. 

Anakin looks at Ben. He’s stepped about a foot away from Anakin now that they’re not squished anymore, and Anakin misses his warmth. “This is a dangerous situation. What are we going to do if it turns ugly?”

Ben frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Like, what if they attack us? Or set the lorry on fire?” 

“Why would they do that? Their main quarrel is with the businesspeople, right?”

Anakin can’t believe what he’s hearing. “Are there no protests in Visakhapatnam?” 

“Um, well, they’re nonviolent protests,” Ben says, fidgeting. “Assault and damage to property are illegal.” 

“Well, suppose that’s not the case here? Suppose these people don’t care who they’re hurting?” 

Ben doesn’t get to answer because in the next second, the very thing Anakin had said would happen, happens. 

Like a wave crashing against the beach, the protesters ascend upon the lorry in fury. Many climb up the walls, while the rest go and drag the driver out to beat him. Soon Anakin, Ben, and the devotees are surrounded. 

“Join the protest!” A large, bearded man waving a  _ Down With Capitalism! _ sign yells at them. They have no choice but to follow, as the lorry is about to get doused with gasoline and set on fire. 

Ben turns to whisper in Anakin’s ear. “As soon as we set foot on the ground, we escape.” Anakin nods. Once they are practically thrown off the lorry, Anakin immediately reaches for Ben’s hand and tugs him through the crowd of protesters, hoping to ditch them before they realize Ben and Anakin are leaving. It’s hard, as there’s so many people packed into a small place, and they are constantly getting hit by elbows and picket signs. 

They’ve made it a couple hundred feet when they realize the back end of the protest is surrounded by police officers with batons and shields. 

“What now?” Ben asks. “I don’t think they’ll just let us out.” 

“Let’s just try. It’s better than being stuck in the middle like this.” 

They are almost in front of the police when a protester makes it past an officer. The other officers nearby try to stop him, and the protester knocks two of them out with a cricket bat he had brought from home. The protesters seeing this are emboldened, and surge towards the police to copy his example. 

And that’s when the riot truly gets ugly. 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!

Anakin and Ben, along with a small portion of the crowd, are knocked to the ground. Before they can get back up, they are trodden on by the rest of the protesters in their rush to get to the police, whose reinforcements are quickly arriving. Anakin cries out as his ankle is stepped on, and when Ben helps him up he realizes he can’t move without limping. 

They try their best to escape the crowd without running into an officer, many of whom are busy smashing their batons over the protesters or knocking them down with their shields, but they don’t know where they are going, as it’s an unfamiliar town. 

“Do you see anywhere we can go?” Anakin frantically asks Ben, who’s also scanning the area. 

“We could probably get out from there,” the older man says, pointing to a small, narrow street over on the other side of the road. “It should connect to some bigger road. If not, we can hopefully take shelter in one of the houses until the riot’s over.”

They enter the small street, amidst the sounds of protesters crying out in pain and fury, the cracks of batons, and the tinkling of shattering glass. Ben and Anakin exchange a look at that last one. 

“They’ve started to throw glass,” Anakin warns. “We really need to get out of here fast, those are long-range weapons.” 

They’ve just turned a corner when an empty bottle shatters against a wall, only about a foot away from where they were. They look up to see the source of the bottle, and it’s the big man that yelled at them to get down from the lorry. 

“COWARDS!” he screams, and launches another one. Ben and Anakin manage to duck in time, and then they start running. Soon they manage to lose the man. 

When they slow down a little to catch their breaths, Anakin turns and gasps. “Your face is bleeding!” 

Ben lifts a hand to his right cheek, and his fingers come away with little spots of blood. “It’s probably from a shard of glass, I’m fine.”

“I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have come here,” Anakin rambles in panic. 

Ben grabs Anakin’s shoulders to steady him. “We’ll go to a hospital once we get out of here, okay? And then we can go to Hyderabad, where you’ll be safe from your family.” Anakin sucks in a deep breath and nods. “Let’s keep moving.” Ben takes Anakin’s hand and they both start running again. 

The road opens up into a small market, where the carts of vegetables and other goods have been overturned, the food being dumped in a pile in the center. Someone has set it on fire, and it burns bright, the smoke choking Ben and Anakin’s throats. However, there are no people here; they must have moved onto another road. The two carefully make their way around the flaming pile, hands linked. 

As Ben leads Anakin around, it’s as if he’s seeing double. For a second, they’re not in a riot in the middle of nowhere, but in a marriage hall. He’s wearing a carefully tailored white dhoti and a turban, and Anakin is wearing the same red kurta as he was when Ben first saw him on the streets. Both of their hands are covered in henna and dotted with liquid saffron, and Anakin has all of his jewelry on, judging by the feel of the rings and bangles pressing against Ben’s hand. The fire they are walking around is not just a bonfire of vegetables, but the Holy Fire of marriage in the center of the  _ mandapam _ . In his mind’s eye, they are walking around it, the first of seven times, as is tradition, after all of the other wedding rituals. The image is gone as suddenly as it appears, and Ben doesn’t know if the tears in his eyes are from the smoke or the knowledge that he’ll never get to have that with Anakin. 

They get out of the marketplace and turn into a larger square. There are still people fighting and fires burning but there’s a lot less violence than the first place they were at. 

Anakin points to a row of autos; thankfully not all of the drivers have fled the scene. He grins at Ben, happy to finally see a way out of this mess. “How much do you think a trip to Hyderabad costs?”

Ben shakes his head. “Honestly, at this point I don’t care, let’s get out of here.” 

They’ve almost reached one of the autos when a bottle shatters directly upon Anakin’s head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Walking around the ceremonial fire seven times, hand in hand, is one of the Telugu marriage rituals. Ben is imagining that instead of them walking around a pile of flaming vegetables.
> 
> Mandapam - marriage pavilion
> 
> Auto - 3 wheeler used for public transportation, sort of like a taxi


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these have been short chapters, and I’m sorry, but the next one’s longer!

Ben manages to catch Anakin in his arms before he collapses, and he cries out at the blood he can already see staining the other’s hair. 

“Stay with me, Ani!” he shouts as he sees Anakin’s eyes go out of focus for a moment. He can only think of how dangerous and unpredictable head wounds were, as he had encountered many of them as a result of his job. They’re still in the middle of a street, extremely vulnerable, and Ben will bet anything that Anakin’s situation was the result of the man who had been chasing them. He lifts Anakin into a bridal carry and places him inside the auto they had originally been trying to get to. 

“Drive, man! I’ll pay you whatever you want!” he yells at the driver, whose eyes widen at the sight of blood before starting the engine. He turns to Anakin on his lap. “Nothing will happen to you, Ani! You’re fine!” Ben tries for reassurance when he sees the panic in the other’s eyes. 

“Ow,” Anakin groans. “Hurts. Hurts a lot.” Ben finds a spare cloth in his pocket that he uses to try and staunch the blood flow on Anakin’s head. He doesn’t remember where he got it from and can only hope that it isn’t infected. 

As he places the cloth on Anakin’s head, his mind slips back into the _mandapam_ , but now Ben is putting the leaf containing the mixture of cumin and jaggery on Anakin’s head, while Anakin does the same to him. He can’t see the younger man with the white curtain in between them, but he knows his groom is smiling, a stark contrast to the grimace on Anakin’s face and the blood running down his face when Ben’s vision clears. 

“I’m going to die here, aren’t I?” Anakin whimpers. 

“No, you are not! Don’t talk like that!” 

“I need to tell you something-”

“You are not going to die.” Ben says it firmly, but it’s more for his benefit than Anakin’s. 

Anakin brushes him off. “Just listen, okay! You stupid, stupid man…” he trails off, holding in a groan of pain. “I like you a lot.” 

Ben’s heart stutters. He wanted this to happen so badly, just not like… this. “I like you too, Ani.” 

“No, I don’t think you do. Not like that.” Anakin leans in closer, and cups the back of Ben’s head. “I love you.”

For a moment time is frozen, and before Ben can think it through he crashes his lips against Anakin’s. The kiss is short and chaste, but it lights a fire through both of them, Anakin especially, who regains a little bit of color and desperately holds the sides of Ben’s face. “I love you too,” Ben replies. At that statement, overwhelming hope blooms in Anakin’s blue eyes and Ben hates it. 

“I want to marry you, Ben Kryze.” Anakin says, breaths coming in short gasps. 

Ben only holds Anakin close to him, burying his head in the other man’s chest, not letting Anakin see his tears. _I’m so sorry, my darling_ , he thinks. _I’m not the man you love_. 

Anakin continues on. “We can get married wherever you want… but Qui-Gon’s not invited. We can live… in Visakhapatnam…” 

“Stay with me, Ani! Please!” 

His next words come out in a whimper. “Hurts…” 

At that moment, the auto pulls in front of the entrance to a large hospital. “Wait right here, I’ll get you into a stretcher.” Ben gently strokes Anakin’s cheekbone, who leans into his touch, before running inside, hoping that that wasn’t the last time he’d get to talk to Anakin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Putting a leaf with a mixture of cumin and jaggery is another Telugu marriage tradition. The couple holds one on each other’s head while there is a white curtain separating them. The curtain would have been there from the start of the marriage, so the couple doesn’t see each other, and in the middle of the cumin-jaggery ritual the curtain is dropped and the couple can look at each other properly. 
> 
> They finally kiss! Also, shit is about to go DOWN next chapter


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some very long-due conversations are had...

Obi-Wan stares at Anakin lying prone on the hospital bed, clutching his fingers. The doctors have managed to save his life for now, but it remains to be seen whether there will be any brain damage. Most of Anakin’s head is covered in bandages, and he’s in a thin hospital gown with an IV attached to his arm. He hates seeing Anakin like this, instead of his usual bright self. 

Obi-Wan’s mind keeps repeating the words Anakin had said to him. 

_ ‘I love you.’  _

_ ‘I want to marry you, Ben Kryze.’ _

But he’s not Ben Kryze. Their whole relationship is a lie, so marriage is not remotely possible. The best thing to do now is wait until Padme Amidala gets here, and leave. Not knowing who else to call, he had dialed Padme’s number, hoping she would be able to come to Suriapet, the city they were in. Padme was able to secure a babysitter and catch a taxi to get here, and she was currently on her way. 

Anakin would hate Obi-Wan for leaving, but it was the best option. He would be able to have a good life in Hyderabad, and maybe someday forgive him. 

He ignores the pain in his own heart, screaming at him to stay with Anakin. Obi-Wan knows it will hurt to have to go back to America, back to work like nothing happened. He also knows that Anakin Skywalker was The One for him. No one else would capture his heart like he did. But there is nothing that he can do about this situation, and he doesn’t want to ruin whatever fragile bond he and Anakin shared. 

Obi-Wan glances at the viewing window, and his stomach drops when he sees a concerned young woman, most likely Padme.  _ It’s time then _ . He was going to never see Anakin again. 

But wait… next to Padme… is his family. Yan, Sheev, and Quinlan stare worriedly at him. 

_ God. _ Even the sight of his parents is enough to set his blood on fire. How dare they show their face again? After what they had done to him? 

Obi-Wan gently untangles his hand from Anakin’s limp one, and brushes the curls off of the other man’s forehead peeking out from the bandages. He presses a kiss there, blinking away tears, and stands up, striding out of the room. 

As expected, Sheev tries to immediately interrogate him. “What happened? Are you alright, my boy?” 

Obi-Wan ignores him. He addresses Padme, “Ani’s fine for now. They’re keeping him under observation. I paid off the fees, and you can go see him.” 

Padme nods gratefully at him, “Thank you, Ben.” He watches her go into the room and take Anakin’s hand, the same one that Obi-Wan had held. 

Yan reaches out to him, and recoils when Obi-Wan pretends the offered arm isn’t there and turns to Quin, who asks, “What happened, Obi? I’m glad Skywalker’s alright, but are  _ you _ fine?” 

“I’m fine. I had a piece of glass cut my cheek, but they stitched it up. It’s Anakin who suffered a major head wound.” He lets Quin hug him, before his brother pulls away and glares at their parents. 

Yan and Sheev are at a loss for words, looking like they can’t understand why their sons are angry with them. Obi-Wan has never hated them more. 

Just then, an entourage of people turn into the corner, and Obi-Wan recognizes Qui-Gon, Ahsoka, and Kit Fisto, as well as Anakin’s mother Tahl and some others from the family photos. Obi-Wan doesn’t know how they figured out that Anakin was in Suriapet, but at this point he doesn’t care. Qui-Gon Jinn barges up to the viewing window in worry and rising fury. “What happened to my son?” he demands, looking at Obi-Wan’s family. His eyes widen as they land upon Obi-Wan. 

“YOU!” he snarls. “My son would’ve been back with me three days ago if it weren’t for you!” Obi-Wan doesn’t cower. He isn’t afraid of this man. Qui-Gon swings a fist back, clearly aimed for a punch, and Sheev steps in front of Obi-Wan. 

“ _ How dare _ you try to hit my son?” he roars. “I will have you and your whole family-” 

Obi-Wan has had enough. 

“SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!” He yells and the room falls silent. He shoots a withering look at Sheev and Yan, and the emotions he had been repressing burst to the surface. 

“Are you not rich? Am I not earning enough in America? Why did you want dowry? For the last two years you’ve been begging me to get married, and the one time I said yes, you ruined it! Didn’t I tell you,  _ Sheev _ , not to play your stupid politician’s tricks?  _ Didn’t I? _ ” Sheev nods meekly. “And you still went and asked for dowry.”

Yan starts to protest. “But son, what about our range? Skywalker is only a village brat-”

Obi-Wan sputters. “Range?  _ Range _ ? You’ve sold your son to increase the family reputation?” Yan pales and Sheev puts a hand on his arm to steady him. Obi-Wan’s voice turns mocking. “Oh I’m sorry Mr. Jinn, my son is worth at least fifty lakhs, twenty acres, and two cows. I won’t sell him for a rupee less.”

Qui-Gon smirks at Sheev and Yan. “Good one, boy. Call them out.” 

Obi-Wan whirls on him. “Oh, like  _ you’re _ any better? You abusive piece of shit?” Qui-Gon stumbles back, and Tahl looks away in shame. “When I called from America, I specifically said, I want this marriage  _ only _ if Ani wants it too. You assured me that you would ask him! And then you said that  _ he _ said  _ yes _ ! I found out later on that you didn’t ask him for his input at any point in time, nor did you show him the DVD!” 

Obi-Wan’s voice drops to a horrified whisper. “It was luck that led Anakin to me on the street that day. Otherwise, think about it! He was wearing  _ lakhs _ worth of gold, and travelling alone! There are greedy fucking pigs like my parents on the streets! And it wasn’t his fault, either. Anyone who is told of their marriage literally on the day that it will happen will do the same! Shame on you!” He gestures to both sets of parents, hysterical. “Just fucking leave Anakin alone, all of you! He’s ten times the human you are!” 

Obi-Wan slumps into a chair with his head in his hands. Quinlan sits next to him and hugs his little brother. They are joined by a crying Tahl. 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “I tried to help Ani, but my husband…” she trails off into a sob. 

Obi-Wan looks at Qui-Gon and his parents again, who are staring guiltily at the floor. “I spent three days with the love of my life. And because of what you did, I wasn’t able to tell him that I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, the person he was supposed to marry. I had to pretend I was Ben Kryze, a complete stranger! I was so scared of what would happen if he found out, if he’d run away again, do something reckless, think that I cheated him  _ just like you all _ , or-” 

Tahl turns and gasps. “My darling boy, you’re awake!” 

Obi-Wan whips his head around, relief dueling with horror, as he sees Anakin awake and standing outside the door, eyes wide in betrayal. It feels like an eternity passes before Anakin runs back into the medical room. Obi-Wan doesn’t know how long he’s been standing there and what he’s heard, but he knows there’s no going back from this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan: monologuing dramatically about how he lied about his entire identity 
> 
> Anakin listening from the door : 👁👄👁


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🥳 we did it!! Chapter 25 baby!

Anakin runs into the room and closes the door behind him, collapsing onto the bed. 

Ben… is Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

It makes sense, how he was so reluctant to talk about himself, how he knew the names of Anakin’s parents, how he had Sheev Palpatine’s personal number. Anakin flashes back to their conversation on dowry, how Ben seemed to be so furious with Anakin’s to be in-laws for taking dowry, and the subsequent phone call to Palpatine. He also supposes that he should have realized Ben had not lived in India for the past decade, given his surprise that the dowry system existed, and his insistence on protests being peaceful. Anakin still doesn’t know who the man he thought was Kenobi really is, and why he was at the house. That man was probably talking to the real Obi-Wan over the phone. 

Anakin should be feeling angry and hurt, in fact that was his initial reaction to hearing the news, but now he just feels numb. He can’t believe that their entire relationship so far has been a lie. 

_But is there a difference between Ben and Kenobi?_ Anakin’s mind asks, which causes him to think. 

He knew nothing of Kenobi himself. He had seen Palpatine and Dooku and made assumptions about Kenobi’s character. But he knew Ben - knew his kindness, warmth, and sincerity. Could he accept that they were the same? 

Ben was nothing like his parents, and openly despised them. If he was truly pretending for Anakin’s sake, he wouldn’t have laughed gleefully at Anakin insulting Palpatine over the phone. And, he was willing to let Anakin go to Hyderabad, even if he was the one that had wanted to marry Anakin in the first place, just to let Anakin be happy. Ben was _good_.

That settles it. Anakin can and will accept the fact that Ben and Obi-Wan Kenobi are the same. He can feel a faint sort of happiness over the fact that Ben -no, Obi-Wan, really loved him back. The only question now is where they will go from here. 

-

Obi-Wan is frozen in his seat. It’s all out now. Anakin probably hates him and will never want to talk to him. 

Padme notices his panic. “Listen, he might not exactly be happy about it, but the only way you’ll find out if he still loves you is if you _talk to him_.” She smiles reassuredly. 

Obi-Wan takes a deep breath. Padme is right, communication is key. He needs to talk to Anakin, or at the very least apologize to him. He makes his way to the door. 

Knocking, he calls out, “Anakin? I just want to apologize.”

A beat passes, then the other man replies, “It’s open.”

Obi-Wan opens the door to find Anakin sitting on the bed, turned away from him, with his hands clasped in his lap. His shoulders are tense and Obi-Wan’s stomach sinks. He gingerly makes his way over to the chair so that he is facing Anakin. The other man’s eyes glance up at his approach and quickly look away. They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, neither knowing what to say. Eventually, it is Obi-Wan who takes the plunge. 

“How are you feeling now?” 

Anakin doesn’t answer. 

“I am really sorry, Ani.” This gets Anakin to make eye contact at least. “It was wrong of me to lie to you. But the situation being what it was… I didn’t really know what else to do, and by the time I wanted to tell you it was too late.” 

He still doesn’t look convinced, so Obi-Wan forges on. 

“I’m still up for the em, marriage thing, if you are too. You don’t have to give me dowry or anything like that. We can live in a big house in America, or like you said earlier we can stay in Visakhapatnam. Qui-Gon is definitely not invited. I won’t let my parents bother us either. And we won’t be pressed for money, I’m a lawyer... “ Obi-Wan trails off as he can see that Anakin is clearly fighting back a smile, but doesn’t make any move to respond. _He isn’t angry with me_ , Obi-Wan realizes. He just needed Obi-Wan to make himself as vulnerable as Anakin had been bleeding out in the auto, as proof of his sincerity. Suddenly, Obi-Wan knows what to do.

The older man stands up, then kneels on the ground in front of Anakin. He takes both of Anakin’s hands within his own, both of them blushing at the contact. Anakin’s eyes are round and hopeful. 

“Anakin, my dear. I don’t have a ring to offer you, just words of promise.” Obi-Wan takes a second to compose himself, then continues. “I love you, Anakin Skywalker. I loved you as Ben Kryze and I love you now as Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are the burning sun to my moon, the sweet flower to my bee.” He lifts one of Anakin’s hands and kisses the palm of it. “I have learned so much about you in the past few days, and I have loved every new facet of your personality that has been revealed. Your fearlessness, your temper, your kindness, your recklessness - I will bear them all if you are willing to stay with me. So, Anakin Cliegg Jinn-Skywalker, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Anakin’s cheeks have tears streaming down them, and he lets out a watery giggle. “Of course I will marry you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I love you too.” He throws himself off the bed and into Obi-Wan’s arms, and they somehow end up crashing onto the floor, which makes Anakin laugh even harder. Obi-Wan hugs the other man tight, thinking of being in this same position with Anakin bleeding out a couple of hours ago. 

They pull a couple of inches apart, and Anakin runs a reverent hand through Obi-Wan’s hair, gaze drifting down to Obi-Wan’s lips. His eyes seem to ask permission, and Obi-Wan makes the choice for him, bringing their lips together. Anakin makes a contented sound in the back of his throat, and Obi-Wan is happy to kiss him deeper to hear what other sounds he can get out of him. Eventually, Obi-Wan gets the sensation that he is being watched, and too late remembers the viewing window. 

Gently breaking the kiss, he looks over to see Padme looking overjoyed for Anakin, who blushes and gives her a little wave. Tahl is crying in happiness, and Quin is giving Obi-Wan a thumbs up and an exaggerated wink. From what he can see of Yan and Qui-Gon, they don’t look disapproving, which is a start. Obi-Wan frowns at the calculating look on Sheev’s face, then decides he doesn’t care. Whether he and Anakin are going to live in America or in India, Obi-Wan is cutting ties with that man. If he wants family, he has his brother. _And Anakin now_ , his mind reminds him, and Obi-Wan smiles at the thought. They pull each other off of the floor, and Obi-Wan kisses Anakin again just to remind himself that this is real. 

“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Anakin whispers. 

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”

Anakin laughs a little. “I mean, this has got to be some sort of cosmic joke. Me running away from my arranged marriage only to fall in love with the same person I was running away from? Somebody’s finding this shit hilarious upstairs.” 

“Or maybe it’s fate correcting the story,” Obi-Wan suggests. “About the Knight and the Emperor.” To be honest, he hadn’t even thought about the fact that their names had matched the ones in the legend in all of this, but when Anakin had said _cosmic_ , he remembered the tale of the star-crossed lovers he had heard when he was a child. 

“Don’t start,” Anakin warns. “Apparently your name was enough to convince my mother that you would be a suitable husband for me.”

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Well, am I?”

Anakin rolls his eyes fondly. “I’m marrying you, dummy. Answer that question yourself.” 

They kiss once more, before turning to make their way out of the room, hand in hand. In their minds, they were already married: they had exchanged flower garlands at the Kanakadurgamma temple, walked around the holy fire in the marketplace, and Obi-Wan had placed a cloth over Anakin’s crown chakra in imitation of the mixture of cumin and jaggery. Whatever was awaiting them outside, they were ready to face it, together. Obi-Wan was Anakin’s and Anakin was Obi-Wan’s, and nothing would change that. 

The End

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Knight and the Emperor is the legend mentioned in Chapter 1 and I also made a separate work in this series to elaborate on it, so go check that out if interested! It’s basically the story of canon!Obi and Ani but with some slight changes. 
> 
> -
> 
> And that’s a wrap! This fic is officially over. I might write some one shots to add to the series, like our couple’s domestic life, but as far as this work goes this is the end. 
> 
> Thoughts, criticisms, compliments, all are welcome! Also if you have any requests for one shots, feel free to type those in as well!
> 
> Follow me at @ess.kay.art on Instagram!


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